#but i think that's what she walked away with. and it keeps being reinforced

[kazumasdiary]

you know i didn't expect the primary emotion at the end of 2-4 to be crying about susato, but i guess that's where we're at tonight

[daddyslilchickenfingers2]

Slutmas Day 8

Whiny Bitch (Matt)

Request: None but @sturnphilia wanted this reposted a few weeks ago

Warnings: Mommy kink, sub Matt, edging, lots of whining, degradation, begging

“Since you wanna be a whiny little whore, I’m gonna have to force you to shut up”

Matt’s Pov

Within the last few months, my girlfriend Y/n and I have been experimenting more in the bedroom, we tried different kinky things to figure out what we like and what we don’t. Something I was skeptical about trying was me being submissive, it was a suggestion brought up by Chris to try because his girlfriend dommed him and he said it was a crazy experience. Y/n and I had decided to try it and now it’s something we do quite often as we both really like it.

I never thought I’d like being a sub, but something about Y/n being on top and in charge is just so intriguing to me. She hasn’t really been too rough on me like I usually am to her, I really do want to experience being treated more aggressively though. Sure she’s roughly pulled my hair, called me names, praised me, and made me beg for her, but I want more. I want her to choke me, edge me, hit me, use toys, degrade me, tie me up, overstimulate me, you know just be more rough overall. I’m kind of scared to ask her though because what if she thinks I’m weird or isn’t into it, what am I supposed to do then?

The last few days I’ve been acting kind of bratty, in hopes of being punished. I’ve been mostly back-talking, not listening, being super clingy, and acting rude. I know Y/n is going to realize something is up because I don’t normally act like this, I just hope she punished me for being a brat. She’s clearly getting fed up with me since she’s been really snappy and short-tempered so hopefully, she’s going to crack soon.

Y/n’s Pov

I know all about Matt’s little plan to piss me off, and I’m going to make him pay. We had just gotten back from the mall and the whole time Matt was being so annoying and touchy. I walked up to my room pretending to be mad at him, making him follow me, not liking that I was angry. “Y/n/nnn, why are you so maddd” he whined, I quickly turned around and grabbed his wrists.

I slammed him against the wall, “Why am I so mad!? Maybe because you’ve been acting like a fucking brat all week!” I aggressively said in his face. Matt let out a small whimper to reinforce that he liked being pinned to the wall, “Lay on the bed, take off your clothes” I ordered him. He immediately started getting undressed and was about to take off his boxers when I stopped him, “Keep your boxers on for me baby” I told him as I pushed him back on the bed.

I started leaving teasing kisses up and down his neck and chest making him whine before I pulled away and stood up. I slowly and teasingly got undressed leaving my panties on and moved back onto the bed, straddling Matt’s lap. “C-Can I touch you?” he asked me sweetly but whined loudly when I told him no, “No, you’ve been a fucking brat all week” “B-But, please!? Wanna touch you so bad mommy!” he cried out. “Maybe you should’ve thought about that before acting like a fucking needy whore” I told him as I roughly pulled his hair to move his head back to start sucking hickies onto his neck.

Matt started writhing beneath me, trying to get some friction against his cock as he went to grab my hips. “Keep your hands to yourself, or else I’m gonna have to tie you up. Understood?” I gripped his jaw roughly as I spoke. “Yes mommy, I-I understand” he whined as he put his hands behind his back, “Good boy, stay just like that” I praised him. I got off of Matt’s lap and settled between his legs, kissing up his thighs and teasing his clothed cock by lightly running my fingers across it.

Matt was a whiny mess as I continued to tease him, never fully touching his cock but giving it enough attention to where it would leave him wanting more. His whining was getting louder and I knew that Chris and Nick would most likely hear him if they came upstairs. “Matt, shut the fuck up! Your brothers are going to hear you whining like a bitch!” I sternly told him, “C-Can’t! You’re teasing m-me, just need you to t-touch my cock!” he loudly whined again.

I gave his cock a hard squeeze making him moan before I slid my panties off, “Since you wanna be a whiny little whore, I’m gonna have to force you to shut up” I told him as I grabbed his jaw. Matt whimpered loudly as I fully sat on his lap again and gripped his jaw tighter, “Open” I instructed him. Not wanting to get in any more trouble Matt complied, immediately opening his mouth. Taking him by surprise, I shoved my balled up panties into his mouth causing muffled whimpering to fall out of his mouth.

I felt his cock twitch and his hips buck up and he tightly squeezed his eyes shut and bit down on my panties. I got off of his lap to go back to teasing him and I was shocked to see a large wet patch on his grey boxers. Matt nearly busted an entire load when I shoved my panties into his mouth but had managed to stop himself. I pressed down on the wet patch as his tip was beneath it causing his eyes to shoot open and his hips to buck up. Matt started shaking his head no when I did so, due to him being sensitive and he knew I’d get mad if he were to cum right now.

“Awe, did you really almost cum in your pants like a horny preteen?” I mocked him causing his cheeks to turn a deep shade of pink as he closed his eyes again. “Open your fucking eyes Matthew!” I raised my voice at him a bit, not liking that he kept closing his eyes. A muffled, displeased whine could be heard from him as he didn’t like when I called him by his full name while domming him. I saw some tears well up in his eyes from both desperation and him being upset, thinking I was genuinely mad at him.

I moved some hair out of his eyes before slightly stroking his jaw, loving the little beard he had going on. “You wanna be a good boy for me Matty?” I asked him sweetly, not wanting him to cry or actually be upset. Matt erratically shook his head yes, wanting to be a good boy and get praised. “Yeah? You wanna be mommy’s good boy, huh? Well, you’re gonna let me suck you off and you’re not gonna cum. If you cum, you’re gonna make this a whole lot worse, okay?” I told causing him to let out another muffled whine.

I moved so I was in between his legs again and slowly pulled down his boxers before discarding them somewhere in my room. I groaned at the sight of Matt’s cock, it was so hard with a very prominent vein protruding on the underside, the head an angry red and had a little bit of cum smeared across it from earlier. His cock now laid flat against his stomach dripping precum, Matt wriggled uncomfortably as I gazed at his throbbed cock. “Look at you Matty, I haven’t even really touched you yet and you’re already such a mess” I fake pouted at him, he then moved one hand from behind his back to point at my panties in his mouth.

I got the hint that he wanted to speak so I pulled them out for a second, “What is it baby?” I asked a bit confused. Matt swallowed hard, scared I’d be mad at him for wanting to speak, “P-Please touch me m-mommy, it hurts! Need you to t-touch me so b-bad!” he stuttered out in a raspy, whiny voice. I just simply nodded before shoving the panties back into his mouth, making his cock twitch. Moving back to my previous position, I slowly took his cock in my hand, teasingly jerking him off at a slow pace.

Matt unintentionally thrusted his hips up for more friction and his eyes yet again went wide and were full of tears threatening to spill. “It’s okay baby, I know you didn’t mean to do that, you’re just really sensitive. Still being my good boy though” I told him softly knowing this was something new to him, not being able to speak or cum. He blinked away the tears and started breathing heavily when I wrapped my lips around the tip of his cock, moaning as I tasted the small amount of cum on it. I dipped my tongue into his slit before fully deep throating him, sliding my tongue along the vein on the underside of his cock on my way up.

I did that a few more times, immediately pulling off when I heard his breathing get heavier and felt his cock twitch. Matt looked at me confused, “I told no cumming, remember?” I reminded him, “At least not until I say so” I quickly added so he knew there would be a reward for being a good boy. I started placing kisses across his thighs before moving up to his stomach, then his chest. I decided to try something else that was new and moved my mouth towards his nipple.

Matt’s Pov

This is exactly what I wanted, for Y/n to be more dominant and demanding, I just wish she would be a bit more aggressive. Just when I was about to cum she pulled off, leaving my cock hard and aching for more. She started kissing my thighs as I was catching my breath before moving up towards my stomach. I was taken by such when I felt her mouth make contact with my left nipple, this was definitely something new, I swear I could’ve cum on the spot when she started sucking on it, lightly flicking her tongue across my nipple as it hardened.

I so badly wanted to just tangle my fingers in her hair, yearning for some kind of stability but I held myself back. Y/n/n switched nipples, giving my right one the same amount of attention before pulling back and smiling. I knew the smile was from my muffled whimpers, whines, and moans as well as me moving below her. She kissed back down my body until she got to my cock, immediately deep throating me once again and let me just say, it felt amazing.

I felt myself getting close to the edge again and I know that Y/n knew that but she kept sucking. She tightened her lip around me and harshly sucked before pulling off with a pop. When she pulled off, I felt a lot of precum drip out of me and almost came. I didn’t even realize I was crying from being denied of my orgasm twice already until Y/n’s hands came up to cup my face and wipe my tears away. She gently stroked one of my cheeks while using the other hand to move my hair out of my face while she sat on my thigh. She moaned when I moved my leg a bit, causing my cock to twitch as I also felt her wetness drip onto my thigh. I was loving the way I could make mommy feel good without even trying.

Y/n’s Pov

After denying Matt of his orgasm for a second time, I looked up to see him crying in frustration. I instantly straddled his right thigh and wiped away the tears, I was about to say something when he moved his leg, causing me to let out a quiet moan. Matt’s eyes immediately met mine, his pupils were blown out in admiration and lust, but I could still see the pretty blue that surrounded them. Biting my lip, I experimentally rolled my hips forward on his thigh, lightly moaning at the feeling. I started grinding myself onto his thigh as the pressure felt amazing on my clit, biting back the moans threatening to spill out of my mouth.

Before I knew it I was cumming all over Matt’s thigh, biting down on his shoulder to stifle my moans. When I came down from my high I pulled back to look at Matt, who was already looking at me with widened eyes. I gave him a sheepish smile before kissing his cheek, “Look at that baby, you made mommy cum by just sitting here being a good boy. How does that make you feel, being used as mommy’s little toy?” I stated as he blushed heavily. I yet again went to suck his cock, this time I scooped up my cum off his thigh and used it as lube to jerk him off a bit.

Matt kept unintentionally pushing his hips up due to him being sensitive from being teased and denied of two orgasms. He was looking down at me with wide eyes, almost as if he was pleading with me to do something more to punish him for moving his hips. After jerking him off for a few minutes I started sucking on his cock again, but not fully taking in all the way in. Matt thrusted his hip up purposely this time causing me to gag on his cock, I slapped his thigh harshly and pulled off for a second. I sent him a warning look “Don’t do that Matt, you’ll regret it!” I scolded him, causing a loud, yet muffled groan to be pulled from the back of his throat.

I went back down to suck him off, going at an excruciatingly slow, teasing pace. I knew he was already close again after being edged twice and just as I was about to pull off to tell him it was okay to cum, his hands moved from behind his back to thread through my hair. He started slowly moving my head before I ripped his hands out of my hair and sat up, straddling his right thigh again. I had both of his wrists in my hand, pinned to his chest, as he closed his eyes tightly. “What did I tell you Matthew!? Keep your hands to your fucking self!” I yelled at him, not caring about the tears slipping past his closed eyelids.

Matt let out a muffled and choked sob, resulting in me pulling the panties from his mouth and throwing them somewhere behind me. I instantly replaced the panties with two of my fingers, not wanting to hear his pathetic apology. I knew Matt wanted me to be rougher with him so I knew that he wasn’t actually upset about what was happening, he was only crying because he was scared I wasn’t going to let him cum. I aggressively let go of his wrists and they just limply fell to his sides. “You know, I was about to tell you that you could cum before you did that but now I think I’m just gonna leave you here and get myself off while you watch” I said, causing another choked son to be let out around my fingers.

The tears were streaming down his face but he still had his eyes closed, not daring to look at me. “Open your eyes” I instructed him, he slowly complied but immediately looked anywhere but at me. “Look at me Matt” I told him but he completely ignored me and started sucking on my fingers instead. I decided to try one more new thing tonight, I pulled my fingers out of his mouth with a pop before wrapping my hand around his throat, “I said to look at me Matthew” I aggressively said at the same time. Matt let out a loud moan, neither of us caring if Nick or Chris heard it, and made eye contact with me.

Matt cried out in a shakey yet raspy voice, “N-No more Matthew! Just w-wanna be Matty! Wanna be your g-good boy-y, ‘m s-sorry mommy!” I did feel a bit bad, but he deserved it for not listening. I let out a sigh and stopped choking him to wipe away his tears once again, “Are you gonna be a good boy and listen now baby?” I asked in a softer tone. Matt let out a little sniffle before nodding his head, “Y-Yes mommy. Wanna be a g-good boy ‘m gonna listen and ‘m sorry. C-Can I make it u-up to you? I’ll eat you out f-for as long as you want” he said shyly. I giggled at his cuteness before playing a sweet kiss onto his lips, lightly tugging his hair in the process, making him moan into the kiss.

I pulled away and moved to straddle his lap instead of just one thigh, “I appreciate the offer Matty but all I really want right now is for you to be inside of me” I said with a smirk. Matt eagerly nodded his head in agreement before putting his hands behind his back again. “Don’t cum without my permission, wait until I tell you to, okay?” I stated, “Okay mommy” he agreed. I started to slowly grind on his cock, spreading my wetness across it, “Oh m-mommy, you’re so wet!” Matt whined out. I lined up his cock with my whole before slowly sinking all the down onto his cock.

Matt let out a loud moan, resulting in me choking him again as I started to bounce up and down on his cock. “Shhh Matty, we don’t want to get caught” I said to him, Matt just whined and looked at me with a fucked out expression. His eyes kept trailing down to look at my boobs but would quickly move his focus back to my face, “You wanna touch ‘em Matty?” I asked him in a teasing tone. He let out a high pitch whine and started nodding his head, “P-Please! C-Can I?” he begged me but was disappointed when I said no. Matt was squirming beneath me and got upset when I started playing with my own nipples while riding him a bit faster.

“If you were a good boy, these could be your hands Matty” I teased, arching my back a bit so my boobs were closer to his face. “No! No, I am your good boy! Promise I am! I-I didn’t mean to be a bad boy! Really didn’t mean it ‘m sorry mommy!” he said loudly in an extremely whiny voice. I took my hands off my boobs, pulling his hair with one and choking him with the other. I got closer to his face as he whispered “Shhh baby, you need to be quiet” I said softly before kissing him. Matt moaned into the kiss as he had been craving the feeling the feeling of my lips on his again.

I removed my hands from around his throat and hair, placing them onto his shoulders and speeding up my movements. “M-Mommy! Can I cum? P-Please, can’t hold it much longer! Gonna h-haaave an a-accident!” Matt cried, trying his best not to cum deep inside me. “Not yet baby, soon though. I’m so close Matty, just a little bit longer. I know you can hold it for me” I told him, now dropping the aggressive and demanding tone. Matt was letting out very loud moans at this point so there was absolutely no way Chris and Nick didn’t know what we were doing. “I’ll try” he moaned while wriggling beneath me, accidentally bucking his hips up and hitting my g-spot, helping me get closer to my high.

“F-Fingers” I heard Matt mumbled making me confused, “What?” I asked back. “F-Fingers. Want your fingers in my mouth, please” this time it was my turn to whine as that sentence went straight to my core. I put two fingers into Matt’s mouth and watch him eagerly suck on them like his life depended on it. He held eye contact with me as he did so and kept whining around my fingers. I felt his cock twitch, resulting in him looking at me with pleading eyes as he was about to cum. His hips started to thrust up to meet mine and after he few more seconds I pulled my fingers out of his mouth.

I brought one of my hands up to his hair, pulling his head back a little, while the other one gripped onto his shoulder. “Oh Fuck Matty, ‘m gonna cum! You’re been such a good b- fuck- boy for me! O-Open your mouth” I moaned. I spit into his mouth before I started cumming around his cock, Matt let out a high pitched whine as my walls started to squeeze him. “Be a good boy and cum for me Matty” I whispered into his ear as I did my best to keep fucking him through my own orgasms. Matt let out loud moans and cries as he started to cum, unable to control his own body at this point. His hands moved from behind his back to tightly grip my hips, causing me to whimper at the slight discomfort from his nails digging into my skin.

“OH FUCK! MHM SHIT- MOMMY! THANK YOU MOMMY! THANK YOU! FUCK SO GOOD MOMMY!” Matt basically screamed out as he came. Almost immediately I was filled up with his cum and it started spilling out onto his balls and thighs. He stopped my movements when he started to get overstimulated, thighs shaking below me from his intense orgasm. I looked down at Matt while we both slowed down our breathing and let me just say, he looked so pretty like this. His hair was a mess, a few tears that came out of his closed eyes adorned his blotchy pink cheeks, lips swollen and red from biting on them, he looked perfect.

I caught my breath before Matt did so I started playing with his hair for a bit until he too caught his breath. He opened his eyes and started looking at me, I wiped away his tears and gave him a small smile. “You okay baby?” I asked, wanting to make sure I didn’t go too hard on him. Matt nodded, “Mmm, tired” he mumbled before puckering up his lips, I leaned in to give him a sweet kiss. “We gotta get cleaned up handsome, I’m gonna have to pull off now” I spoke softly and I started to get off his cock, more cum dripping out onto his now softened cock and thighs. Matt whimpered as the cold air hit his spent cock while I stood up. I went to go help Matt up so we could go take a shower but he pulled his hands back, “Shower in the morning, too tired” he complained. I let out a sigh but agreed anyways, walking into my bathroom to clean myself up before returning with a warm washcloth to clean up Matt.

I started wiping the cum off his thighs before moving onto his cock and balls, causing him to whimper from the sensitivity. “I know, I’m sorry baby” I soothed him before throwing the washcloth into the hamper, I then got myself dressed in a pajama shirt and shorts. I went over to a drawer full of clothes I’ve stolen from Matt and grabbed a pair of boxers and a shirt, helping him stand up and get dressed. “Sorry I got your sheets dirty mommy” he pouted, making me smile due to how cute he always his after being dommed. Matt usually doesn’t stay in a subspace for long after we’re done having sex but I had a feeling tonight he was going to be in one until we fell asleep. “It’s okay my love. C’mon let’s go sleep in your room” I said while grabbing his hand. We made our way downstairs and Matt immediately made a displeased noise and started blushing.

“Oh mommyyyyy, I’m your good boy!” “Fuck mommy! Thank you mommy!” both Chris and Nick mocked him simultaneously. “Oh shut up, leave him alone. Don’t act like you sound any less pathetic in bed with your girlfriend Chris!” I yelled at the other two brothers. Flipping them off, I walked us both to the kitchen to get some water before heading into Matt’s room. We sat down on his bed and he started pouting again, “They’re mean” he whined, making me laugh a bit. “I know baby, they’re just jealous that you’re the most handsome triplet” I said, making him blush and pull me closer for a hug.

“Am I really?” “Of course you are Matty, you’re the sweetest, most caring, and the most handsome boy on this planet” I replied before placing a kiss on his lips. “And a good boy too, right?” he asked in a small voice, making me smile. “Yes Matty, a very good boy. I love you, baby” I told him, “I love you too, can we sleep now ‘m so tired” he mumbled into my neck. “Yes we can, goodnight baby” I kissed his head and turned the LEDs off, “G’night mommy” he replied. Within a few minutes, I heard Matt softly snoring making me smile before drifting off to sleep as well. All I could think about was how lucky I was to have Matt in my life, he honestly really is the love of my life.

All work is subject to copyright

©Daddyslilchickenfingers2 2023

Do not steal, use, or reupload my work

Tag list: @angelic-sturniolos111 @biimpanicking @biplrbtch @chrisenthusiast @chrisolivia4l @christinarowie332 @chr1sgirl4life @delimeats-000 @dev-speaks @ermdontmindthisaccount @flowerxbunnie @fionaheartswomen @freshlovehacker @heartsforchrisandmatt @iheartchrissturniolo @ilovemattsturn @its-jennarose @justaslvttygirl @kvtie444 @lustfulslxt @luvysworld @m6ttsturniolo @mangosrar @mangoposts @meerkatzthings @mattsnutsack @rac00ns-are-c00l4 @recklesssturniolo @solarsturniolo @soursturniolo @strniohoeee @sturniolohoe @sturniolosluvv @sturniolopepsi @sturnphilia

[loudgaybug]

I wanted to analyse the different ways that their "deaths" affected both Pomme and Em (I say "deaths" because Pomme's was a nightmare, but still shaped her character). Both deaths were inescapable ; caused by undefeatable enemies, however while Em's was short and sudden, restrictive, being held by a leash, Pomme's was long and drawn out, breaking many totems, giving her time to think about how powerless she was as Phil tried to save her. They are narrative foils to each other in my eyes ; Pomme herself said she saw her younger self in Em. They were both young, new eggs - Em being not the absolute youngest, but still viewed and young and fragile the way Pomme was the youngest. They both started out as very caring eggs, with a love of flowers to show their affection. They are also very smart and calculative, Pomme choosing knowledge as her element and Em always paying attention to her surrounding. Em also initially had Pomme's protector mindset, which Pomme learned through experience. They almost had opposite character arcs in my opinion, largely due to the different circumstances and parenting styles they had.

After Pomme's nightmare, she hated how she couldn't fight back. Her parents reactions, particularly Etoiles, were to teach her how to fight and protect herself. They encouraged her to be strong and learn how to take a fight. Pomme's view of the world was also strongly formed by the fact her siblings had all lost lives before her, they were all in danger, they all needed to be protected. She was the only oen with two lives. Her life was less valuable, she must use it to protect others. Em, in contrast, after the egg hospital, is now the only egg with one life, rather than being the target like Pomme with two lives. Now Em is the most fragile, something I'm sure that's hard for her, as she got used to wanting to be a protector.

Em's natural reaction to conflict was to fight, however we first see that change of the day of the egg's bed trapping. She tries to keep up a strong front, but this time, she freezes, she walks around aimlessly, her hands won't work, she can't help, she can't decorate with Sunny and Tubbo. I think when Em gets somewhat stressed she fights, but when really traumatised she can't handle it and her response is to shut down.

In contrast to Pomme constantly being taught by her parents that the important thing is to be strong, and to protect others, reinforced especially by self-sacrificing characters like Bad, Em is consistently taught by her mother she should stay back, run away in conflict, and in fact they get in disagreement about this, because Em wants to help. This is compounded by Tubbo, who consistently teaches Sunny to run, and, when acting as a caretaker for Em, also encourages this mindset. Then when Em talks to her mother about it further, she reinforces Tubbo's teaching, that it's safer both for her and her siblings is Em runs away. But I think its Em's death that really solidifies this, in the same way that Pomme's nightmare solidifies that she wants to get stronger and protect her siblings and provides basis for later teaching. Children are malleable, and they listen to what they are taught and what experiences they have really shape them.

Em's death comes from being at the centre of the action, and, crucially, being restrained, not being able to run or warp away. This forms a strong correlation in Em's mind between being able to get away and being safe. This is then compounded the next day when Bad teaches her how to use the grappling hook to escape easier, and she often uses it now, I think it makes her feel safer. In the same way, Pomme would often unhide her armour, because she wanted to show her strength, and it reminded her that she was stronger now, that she has the power to protect her siblings that she's so scared of losing, and that she has to be the target, she's the safe one, the one with two lives. She also uses armour now to show care, making protective kits for Sunny Em and Pepito. In addition, Em's reminder of her death is flowers, flowers that symbolise change and transformations, symbolic of how her mindset has changed and now she realises she can't be a hero and just wants to be safe with her family. A reminder of Pomme's death and her mission is her scythe Vengeance, which she named so that she could seek revenge for her siblings. A scythe and flowers, two very similiar eggs, who learned very different lessons.

Em started out trying to be protector, wanting to be a hero, ending up realising she had to be a lover. Pomme started out as a lover and found she had to be a fighter aswell.

[abbysbicepsss]

Beg for it.

The mean abby fic is finally here, amen. I hope it doesn't disappoint and if it does, don't tell me bc I will cry.

cw: smut, mean!abby, kind of crybaby!reader, sex with a strap on, oral sex with a strap on, degradation, spit kink, dom/sub dynamics, abby calls reader stupid and dumb a lot, hair pulling, edging, orgasm denial, I think that's it

"You're so pathetic" Abby taunted, reinforcing her grip on your hair and dragging you further across the floor, your hands and knees getting more bruised with each forward movement. Abby stops walking and pulls you onto only your knees, forcing you to make eye contact with her as she towered over you. "Open your mouth," Abby commands, placing a harsh slap on your cheek. "I know you're not that fucking stupid," she continues as you take in the stinging sensation on your face. "I fuck you for a couple of minutes and now you don't know what it takes to be an obedient slut?" Abby questions, gripping your jaw with her free hand and forcing your mouth open. She bends down slightly and lets a glistening trail of spit fall into your mouth. You swallow eagerly, keeping your eyes locked with her blue ones. 

"What do you fucking say" Abby asks, tugging on your hair to bring you back to reality, her attempt working only partially. "Thank you" you respond, your voice barely audible. "Thank you, what?" Abby queried, granting you another harsh strike on your other cheek. "Thank you, daddy" you offer, trying your best to project your voice, blinking rapidly to try to prevent the tears welling in your eyes from falling down your face. "You're so pathetic" Abby responds, using the hand not entangled in your hair to place two fingers down your throat, forcing the tears in your eyes to finally spill over. This action alone makes you clench your thighs together, feeling the cold wetness from the evening's prior events on your thighs. Your movement doesn't go unnoticed by Abby. 

"Look at you. You're fucking soaked and all I did was treat you like a dumb little bitch." Abby continues, moving her digits in and out of your mouth. "That's what you want, hm? To be treated like a stupid slut?" You nod your head and consequently gag on her fingers, a soft whimper escaping your lips. The sound of you gagging on her hand makes Abby dizzy with power, loving the fact that she has this much power over you. 

"You gonna clean up the mess you made earlier?" Abby asks. Before she can finish asking her question, you lean forward to take the length of her strap into your mouth, eager to please her and keeping in mind that the quicker you clean it the quicker she'll give it to you again. "Woah woah woah, what do you say?" Abby pulls on your hair before you can fit the silicone cock in your mouth causing a stinging sensation on your scalp and a moan to escape your parted lips. "Please, daddy." you say, trying your best to persuade her with your doe eyes. "Not good enough, princess. You know what to do. Beg for it." Abby commands. "Please, Abby. I need it so bad. I just wanna be used by you. Please, I'll be so good for you I promise..." you continue making desperate pleas until you're sobbing and the sentences coming from your mouth are no longer coherent. Abby slaps you once more, quickly placing kisses on your tear stained cheeks to soothe both you and your skin. 

You know better than to take this gesture as a sign that you're in the clear. Abby still intended to make you cum for her, again and again and again. "So pretty when you beg, baby" Abby coos, finally letting you take her cock into your mouth. You moan at the fullness, your oral fixation finally satisfied for the time being. Abby pulls away after a few minutes of you sucking her off, a pouty huff departing your lips. "On the bed. And don't fucking squirm or I won't let you cum at all tonight." 

You climb on the bed, getting on your hands and knees. You were always on your hands and knees on nights like this. Nights where Abby was taking out all of her aggression on you. Nights where you'd been pushed to the edge what feels like a million times, but still not being granted the release that you so desperately craved. Abby knelt behind you and grazed her fingers over your dripping cunt. You whine at the contact and make a half hearted attempt to push back onto her, earning you a slap on your ass. "What did I say?" Abby asks, smacking you again. "Sorry Abs, just need you so bad. So bad." you apologize, writhing around on the mattress. "I know. Dumb whores like you always insist that they need it so bad." Abby replies as she removes her fingers and pushes inside of you, bottoming out. You moan, no longer trying to show self-restraint. You immediately start pushing your ass back and forth, moaning each time the fake cock hits your cervix. 

Abby stays still for a little bit, admiring how desperate and needy you are before placing one hand on your back to deepen its arch and gripping your hair with the other hand. She relentlessly fucks into you, each thrust emphasized with one of your high pitched whines. "So fucking pathetic. How does it feel to be a useless whore?" Abby asks, knowing you're too fucked out to even respond. Abby didn't need you to respond, she knew the answer. A constant moan was leaving your lips at this point, fucked too stupid to even care about how loud you were being. You were so close and you were hoping to god that this was the time Abby would finally let you cum. You muster up the energy to let out a quiet "Close", letting her know you were almost there. Abby snaked her hand under your waist and began playing with your clit, causing you to cry out from the overwhelming pleasure. 

You know better than to cum on your own accord and instead begin begging Abby to allow it, your words slurring due to the intoxicated state her strap had put you in. "Be a good girl and cum for me, baby. You earned it, being such a good slut for me all night." Abby praises, and the white hot feeling that had been fluctuating inside you all night was finally released, your cum gushing all over her strap as she fucks you through your orgasm. She finally stops and pulls out when you're no longer able to hold yourself up, your legs shaking and your pussy tightening around nothing. You roll over onto your back, exhausted physically and mentally but knowing Abby would force several more orgasms out of you before the night was over. 

[black-rose-blue-lodge]

The Importance of Donna in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Okay, so a lot of people like to ship Donna Hayward and Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks, and there is good reason for that. Throughout the original run, Donna is haunted by her complex feelings for Laura. She loved her, she envied her, she wanted to be her. She misses her. Donna gets close to James, Maddy and Harold in part because they all give her the feeling of being close to Laura. In Fire Walk With Me, we are shown just how close they were.

Donna is very important in Fire Walk With Me. I believe that none of this requires you to ship the characters, although I also find it compelling evidence for a romantic reading of the film. Basically, even if you think the characters have only platonic feelings for each other, this is a summary of why Donna matters.

Near the end of the film, Laura tells James “You don’t know me. There are things about me… Even Donna doesn’t know me.” Of all the people who apparently don’t know Laura, Donna knows her the most. She is given the most importance. While Laura’s relationships with James and Bobby are shown to be ineffectual and largely irrelevant to the story of the end of her life, Donna is front and centre. Their friendship, their love for each other, is the emotional core of the film.

Our first insight into Laura’s psyche comes when she confides her depression and existential dread in Donna with the lines: “the angels wouldn’t help you… because they’ve all gone away.” In this scene, she is much more candid, willing to expose this part of herself. She essentially believes that she is doomed, that no one will be there to save her. (And, on a surface level, she is correct: even Mike, the “one man… Bob is afraid of” according to Laura’s secret diary, does not save her from death.)

When Laura begins to realize BOB’s true identity, she turns to Donna. Donna grounds her in reality. Laura seems to walk “between two worlds” in the film, constantly teetering on the brink of life and death. Donna is perhaps her greatest remaining connection to this world. And, difficult as that responsibility may be, Donna gladly accepts it.

Donna is depicted in Fire Walk With Me as a shy and conservative girl, contrasting strongly with Laura, who is openly ‘dangerous’ and promiscuous. Donna daydreams about having “lasting love… true love” but doesn’t even have a boyfriend. She takes all her cues from Laura. When she tries to become more adventurous, she does it to be like Laura, to understand Laura. This is shown after the Pink Room sequence, where Donna asks tearfully “Why do you do it?” She desperately wants to know, to stand there with Laura between two worlds and comfort her, but she can’t. She can never understand.

In The Missing Pieces, after Laura’s breakdown at Donna’s house, Donna whispers something to her father, who then reads a (clearly fake) “secret message for Laura”.

We don’t know what Donna whispered to Doc Hayward, but she must have asked him to say something about the angels returning, because she was the only one present when Laura said that the angels wouldn’t help her. The camera reinforces this, lingering on Donna as her father “reads” the message. It is a message from Donna.

Laura leaves after this, clearly affected. The way it cuts to Donna during the line “the one that is meant to help you” suggest that Donna believes that she can help Laura. If no other angels are there, Donna will be the angel who helps Laura out of the darkness.

Now, BOB’s stated motivation in the film is to “taste through [Laura’s] mouth”, turning her into the next ‘vehicle” for his evil. In the series (2x9), Laura’s diary reveals that she died because it was “the only way to keep Bob away from [her], the only way to tear him out from inside.” She wrote, “I know he wants me, I can feel his fire. But if I die he can’t hurt me anymore.” She died to avoid a fate worse than death.

In Fire Walk With Me, the focus shifts, and it’s not just about Laura. In the film, Laura dies so that BOB can’t use her to hurt the people around her. It is strongly implied that the fate of Twin Peaks itself hangs in the balance. (This is arguably why the scenes of everyday town life in The Missing Pieces were included to begin with; they offer glimpses of what Laura dies to protect.)

If BOB possesses Laura, his fire will spread. The Log Lady warns her “the tender boughs of innocence burn first… and then all goodness is in jeopardy.” This is right before Laura goes into the Roadhouse, where Donna follows her, beginning the dangerous game of “chicken” that they play, where Laura keeps trying to scare Donna away, and Donna keeps trying to show Laura that she isn’t scared. This sequence is the last straw for Laura. When she sees Donna slipping into darkness in the Pink Room, she gets a firsthand glimpse of “the tender boughs of innocence” beginning to burn.

Laura’s influence, despite all her intentions, has started to corrupt Donna. It’s one thing for Laura to be taken advantage of by these men. In her opinion, she can handle it, and she is doomed anyway. But not Donna. In the screenplay, this is even more explicit during the Pink Room scene.

Donna represents everything at stake if BOB wins. For Laura, Donna is the incarnation of “innocence” and “all goodness”. In that way, she is indeed like an angel, and Laura doesn’t want to bring about her fall from grace.

This is the heart of the film. The essence of Laura’s sacrifice. She dies for Donna.

As much as I, like many others, ship Donna with Laura, Laura could never be with Donna, not in this universe. Though I believe Laura has feelings for her, she would not act on them, because she views Donna as someone fundamentally good, and herself as someone fundamentally bad. This is encapsulated in the line “I love you, Donna… But I don’t want you to be like me.” In the original series, a passage from Laura’s diary reads: “I love Donna very much, but sometimes I worry that she wouldn’t be around me at all if she knew what my insides were like.” Now Donna has seen Laura’s dark side, the things she does, and still she loves her, still she wants to be there for her.

So Laura returns the favour. She becomes the guardian angel of Twin Peaks, ignoring Cooper’s dream-warning and putting on the ring. She hopes that the evil will die with her. Of course, it doesn’t, because Laura was never the source of that evil to begin with. BOB’s power lies in his ability to be indistinguishable from human evil. As Albert remarks, “Maybe that’s all BOB is. The evil that men do.” BOB was never just Laura’s dark side. Laura ended up as just another victim, with a letter under her fingernail, like Teresa Banks before her and Maddy Ferguson after her.

Regardless, Laura’s death means something. She dies on her own terms, in defiance of beings far beyond her comprehension. Her choice to die is an act of love, born of the sincere belief that the world will be a better place without her.

At the very end of Fire Walk With Me, in the enigmatic purgatory of the Red Room, Laura sees a vision of an angel.

Earlier, Ronette Pulaski saw an angel while in the train car, but that angel actually did help her. Ronette escaped. Laura’s angel is different. It isn’t there to help her. Laura is beyond help now. No, it is the mere fact of seeing this angel that gives Laura comfort. The angel is pure, radiant, seemingly unaffected by the darkness that surrounds it.

The actress who plays Laura’s angel, Lorna MacMillan, has dark, curly hair, and from a distance, is somewhat reminiscent of Donna. (Similarly, Ronette's angel is blonde, possibly to remind us of Laura.) Now, it would have been far too obvious for Moira Kelly to play Laura's angel, and that isn’t really the point. The angel represents the goodness that endures. It represents the same thing as Donna. The innocence that Laura died to protect. In the end, Laura’s only comfort is knowing that, though her death did not bring an end to darkness, it did allow for the continued survival of light. The light flickers on Laura's face in this scene, just like in the Pink Room. There, she was watching Donna flirt with the darkness. Here, she is looking at the angel Donna promised would return.

The track that plays during this scene is “The Voice of Love”. Laura was not ultimately corrupted. Like that angel, she is now a lonely light in a world of darkness. The darkness did not win. Generations of trauma and evil could not make her give in. So why does the angel look like Donna? Because Donna was the best thing about Laura. As much as Donna tries to emulate Laura, both while she is alive and after her death, Laura saves herself, and the world, by emulating Donna. Donna’s selflessness, compassion and bravery are qualities that Laura already has, but she can’t see them in herself. That is why she sees the angel as something outside of herself. I believe the angel is Laura. Of course, Laura could never see herself as an angel.

But she could very easily see Donna as one.

[myloveismineallmine]

Part 4!

back to claire and carmy. and this one is.... very funny to me actually

Song: Vega Tables - Brian Wilson

On fak walking in on sugar in the bathroom:

I tried to kick the ball but my tenny flew right off I'm red as a beet 'cause I'm so embarassed

fak walks in on nat, an embarrassing situation, fitting lyric here.

fak walks away, camera focuses on carmy serving claire & co, carmy tells claire she looks great:

(Mom and Daddy says)

Sleep a lot eat a lot brush em like crazy Run a lot do a lot never be lazy (boy)

carm walks over to sugar and asks if their mom came, and then asks why she's covered in water:

Sleep a lot eat a lot brush em like crazy Run a lot do a lot never be lazy (boy)

carmy hallucinates his previous boss:

(Wordless Vocals)

the song then fades away as carmen re-enters the kitchen.

so, yeah, that's it.

on the surface, this is a weird song choice. the only super fitting lyric is the one that's on fak about being "red as a beet." but considering how on the nose a lot of the music is, it would be strange for them to choose this song for that one singular line. like, this song isn't even popular enough to justify it being randomly played in the restaurant.

so, we gotta really use our brains and think about the context here.

plot recap time:

richie tells carmy that claire is on 31 and that he needs to say hi. carmy is like "Uhhh... eventually." richie insists he does it right away, carmy tells him no, they argue a bit, and eventually richie backs off.

some time passes....

carmy says he needs hands for table 31. syd is like "yeah, that's claire." (this bitch ALREADY forgot where his gf was) carmy's immediate reaction is "fuck, yeah, that's right. uh...."

he reluctantly says he'll do it, syd is like "is now the best time for that?"

he pulls THIS FUCKING FACE:

which he keeps on the whole walk out, like, this man is clearly terrified.

now let's look at the context of the song:

brian wilson was kind of a health nut, so the song is about how eating vegetables is good for you. while he actually enjoyed vegetables, the song is more satirical, and more about doing things your parents tell you to do (such as eating your vegetables.)

this is especially apparent with the lines on carmy and claire:

(Mom and Daddy says)

Sleep a lot eat a lot brush em like crazy Run a lot do a lot never be lazy (boy)

sleep, brush your teeth, exercise and work hard like your parents tell you to.

this in conjunction with richie telling carmy to go see claire, along with him, mikey and fak continuously telling him to pursue claire, really makes me think this song was chosen to reinforce that carmy feels obligated to be with claire because of expectations of others rather than out of his own volition.

like, think about it. a song about how you should listen to your parents and brush your teeth? while a character is supposed to be serving his girlfriend a nice dinner? for what reason???

i made a whole post about how carmy and claire's dates are literally just things that are technically chores. coincidently, doing chores is another thing, like eating vegetables, your parents will make you do.

the whole theme with claire seems to be doing things you don't really want to do, but others do want to see you do. which is ironic, because it completely contradicts carmy claiming that being with claire is for "fun and amusement."

i feel like carmen is just plagued with... doing everything everyone else wants him to do. he thinks claire is fun and amusing because people are telling him that she is good for him. he is literally panicking so many times he's confronted with her, but people say he needs a girlfriend, so he thinks they must be right.

on a happier note. the writers/editors were probably giggling and kicking their feet when they chose this song. like, oh the dumb song about eating your vegetables? by the beach boys? and we're gonna use it to represent how carmy doesn't feel happy with claire? hehehe the viewers won't get it but it'll be funny for us. i'm onto you guys, i see you...

part 1 / part 2 / part 3

[horse-girl-anthy]

Mikage: Boy of the Black Rose

I've long struggled to write about Mikage, who I find to be an intriguing yet elusive character. or rather, his character is understandable--his motives and feelings are communicated clearly enough--but his narrative is one of the most inexplicable in RGU. thinking it over tonight, I put my finger on one aspect of the Black Rose arc which I previously didn't know how to approach: specifically, Mikage's relationship with the Boys of the Black Rose.

the boys act as a kind of collective character, a mass of faceless people who whisper in dark corners. since RGU is about social reality, it often uses extras to deliver exposition or set the mood. the Shadow Girls are meta characters, existing somewhat outside the narrative, but regular schoolgirls at Ohtori can serve a similar purpose. they might demonstrate that Touga and Saionji are considered the hottest boys in school, or gossip about Ruka and Shiori's recent breakup.

the Boys of the Black Rose are slightly different, maybe a little closer to the Shadow Girls. rather than acting as bit characters in the larger world of Ohtori campus, I believe their existence is contigent on Mikage. while this could be put in various ways, in the most straightforward terms, the writers created them to help reflect on Mikage's character.

only one Black Rose Boy is given a face: the first one Mikage (Nemuro) talks to. when Mikage asks not to be called "professor," since they are the same age, the boy replies:

obviously, RGU relies on making its main characters visually distinct from "normal people." Wakaba calls them "special" and resents them. Utena is popular for her specialness, well-liked; in contrast, Mikage is an outcast for his. for a person to be special or a genius, there must be others for them to stand in opposition to. Mikage is set apart from his peers by his pink hair, by his unique uniform, and by being a professor.

after Mikage is introduced to his new work, the boys begin to gossip about him, saying he knows nothing about what's really going on at Ohtori. towards the end of this conversation, there's a shot of Mikage, and then he actually replies from the future to the gossip they were spreading about him.

this is Mikage's eternal reality: his recollection of the past. even during the "present" of Utena's narrative, he is still walking through Nemuro Memorial Hall, which is why it's still standing, unburned. the Boys of the Black Rose that the audience sees are filtered through Mikage's memory; whether or not the boys really said these things about him is ambigous. it's possible, but the important fact is that Mikage believes they did.

this transpersonal mirroring keeps Mikage trapped, unchanging. he feels himself defined as unable to connect with others, so he keeps away from them. this becomes a self-perpetuating cycle, leaving Mikage a total outcast.

even outcasts, however, are members of society. the Boys of the Black Rose actually have more in common with Mikage than the average Ohtori student. they're all scientists working on the same project. they have much of his coldness, sense of superiority, and intellectualism. the main difference is that they're the in-group.

while Mikage believes himself to be emotionless, it's made clear that his social isolation hurts him. he doesn't want to be set apart, but he doesn't know how to break through the barrier between him and others. it's very easy to do a queer reading of the character, given the way this is conveyed to the audience.

Mikage's fixation on Tokiko and Mamiya is easier to undestand with all this in mind. the world he was living in, occupied by the Boys of the Black Rose, was a cold and alienated one. in contrast, Tokiko has genuine passion, caring for her brother deeply. Tokiko's tears move Mikage, allowing his own buried emotions to break through the surface. but she also reinforces his social isolation; he is equally as hurt by her as he is drawn to her.

this is part of why Mikage is so determined to "defeat" Tokiko; she offered him hope of connection, but he was never able to "win" her, as men so often try to do with women.

Mamiya is something else altogether; a boy, like Mikage and the Black Rose Boys, but altogether different. warm, friendly to Mikage, not intimidated by his intelligence or reputation, and insightful. in a show full of characters obsessed with holding on (to the past, to a person, to their self-image), Mamiya is the only one who can see the wisdom in letting go.

Mikage at first is open to Mamiya's words, preparing to call off their quest for eternal life. but like every character who threatens the system in RGU, he is faced with Akio. in a prototype of the later "End of the World" sequences, Mikage comes across the kissing Tokiko and Akio. this proves to be too much for him; there are some things he can't afford to lose.

the scene has significance to Mikage far beyond disappointment in love. he wanted to create a family with Tokiko and Mamiya; marriage to Tokiko would tie them together "forever." if he could be by Tokiko's side as they lost Mamiya, then at least he wouldn't be alone after his death. but if he's only Tokiko's coworker, when their work is done, he's back to being a computer.

in desperation, Mikage plays into Akio's hands. under contract, he sacrifices the Boys of the Black Rose and burns down the hall that bears his name. when justifying himself to Tokiko, he claims that this act will allow them to attain eternity. in the events of the series, he's still at it: installing Mamiya as the Rose Bride will, after all, make him eternal, even though it's the very kind of eternity Mamiya wanted nothing to do with.

Mikage retreats into delusions on feeling the sting of Tokiko's rejection. though he is the one who betrayed her, he turns it around and feels betrayed himself. going even further, he casts Mamiya as the one who set the fire.

the Boys of the Black Rose are also used to emphasize his inability to face his own actions. throughout the arc, the boys are seen pushing coffins around. however, in episode 23, Mikage takes their place right before he is forced to face the truth about himself.

at the end of the arc, Miki claims that no one was hurt in the the fire, contradicting the previous story of Nemuro Memorial Hall. this possibly indicates that the murders are a figment of Mikage's imagination--the older Tokiko doesn't seem to react to him as if he's a murderer. more than anything, he seems guilty of self-denial and retreat from reality. Tokiko went on to accept Mamiya's death and even mourned for Mikage, while he ignored her in favor of his memories. the fact that he does not recognize her feelings is another aspect of his tragedy.

Mikage, through his fruitless revolution, loses the very things he always wanted. he attempts to throw away his past self, the cocoon of Nemuro hatching into the butterfly that is Mikage. with it, he burns away the boys who rejected him, who embodied the cold world he used to live in. he uses their sacrifice to enshrine Mamiya, idealizing him as the perfect companion. but as Ikuhara said, he was doomed to fail from the start:

Those who reject that place are, conversely, rejected by it as well. This is the nature of systems: the moment you reject them, you are forced to realize that they’re the very ground you’re standing on. Mikage noticed the trick behind the system, and he hurriedly attempted revisions. But the adult who’d created the system just said “Let’s not,” and unilaterally brought the curtain down.

the "trick within the system," is, I think, the fact that it's socially constructed. Mikage believed that on realizing this, he could simply remake the world as he wanted. he was allowed to do so for a time, when it was useful. when he ceased to be useful, he was dispatched with, because while he had operated within the system, he was not in control of it. and beneath his delusions, there was still a reality.

Mikage is the true Boy of the Black Rose: the true ghost, the true sacrifice, living in the desiccated world of a preserved flower. throughout the arc, he takes possession of Ohtori students who suffer from the same afflictions as him, and every time Utena defeats one of his duelists, another part of him is exorcised--another Black Rose Boy burned away. in the end, the only thing left of him is the ruin of Nemuro Memorial Hall, shown briefly in the final episode. he graduates at Ohtori, but only after losing absolutely everything. that seems to be the only way to step into adulthood: naked and shivering, like the day we are born.

[sunlightmurdock]

Safe Zone | 0.1 | Bradley Bradshaw / Jake Seresin x Reader AU

Prologue | Next Chapter | Masterlist

Synopsis: A team of elite naval aviators holding down the fort at the North Island Air Base while they wait for reinforcements after a virus sweeps the continental U.S. - only, it’s been three months and no one has shown up.

Warnings: : throughout the fic - gore, death, violence and pretty graphic mentions of all things zombie related, love triangle, smut (18+, minors dni), angst etc. No specific warnings for this chapter

…

“Sir, we’ve talked to everyone,” Rueben sighs tiredly, rubbing a hand over the usually buzzed hair at the nape of his neck. He’s in need of a haircut but they’ve been so busy the past few days. “No one matches Coyote’s description of who attacked him.”

Bradley takes a sip from his water bottle, setting it down on the floor beside him as he leans back in his chair. These meetings are growing increasingly dull.

“I want an example made of whoever stole. We can’t have people thinking that they can get away with this kind of thing. You keep looking until you find what we’re looking for.” Cyclone insists, slamming his fist down on the desk.

Jake’s staring out the window, towards the water. Silently wondering if the same shit is happening on the other side of the ocean too. If those reinforcements are ever coming.

“May I suggest something, Admiral Simpson?” Bob asks, sitting up a little straighter, scooting forwards in his chair.

“I suppose so.” Cyclone frowns.

“I was talking to some of the civilians this week, and it got me thinking,” Bob explains, he adjusts his glasses slightly and avoids looking Cyclone in the eye. He always stumbles over his words when Cyclone gives him that mean look like he’s stupid. He isn’t stupid. “I think that they’re bored, sir.”

Cyclone scoffs angrily, standing upright and folding his arms over his chest, “It isn’t our job to entertain them, Floyd!” He barks, frustrated by the suggestion.

Bob swallows, then shakes his head, “No, of course not, Sir. But I was talking to them, and y’know - they all had jobs before this. There are good doctors, police, teachers - all sitting around doing nothing. I was thinking that if they were busy, they wouldn’t have as much time to-“

“We aren’t here to give them jobs. We’re here to protect them and keep them where they’re supposed to be.” Cyclone deadpans, squashing Bob’s idea. Bob nods sheepishly, looking down towards the table.

“Actually, I think Bob’s got a point - bored people start looking for trouble.” Phoenix points out. She gives Bob a soft smile, he gives her a grateful nod.

“And we could do with some more doctors. Our medical training is okay, but we aren’t professionals. Sir.” Fanboy agrees.

“Teachers would be good, too. I keep catching the kids by the weapons locker, only so long before someone gets hurt. Would be better to have someone keep an eye on them for real.” Payback adds.

“And where would these teachers take the kids all day, Fitch?” Cyclone asks pointedly.

“There’s a tonne of empty buildings. All it takes is a couple minutes every morning for us to go and let them in, they can figure out the rest.” Bradley shrugs.

Cyclone looks around the room at his senior staff. Hondo shrugs his shoulders, knowing that it’s probably the best idea to come from one of these meetings in weeks.

“Our orders are to wait.” Cyclone reiterates.

“We’ve been waiting, sir.” Jake points out. “We can keep waiting, but I think Bob’s right - we’ve got skilled people out there and they’re just sitting there useless.”

Begrudgingly, Cyclone agrees. You spot the flyers that afternoon, being pasted onto the sides of a few walls whilst you’re on your second walk of the day. You’re growing restless in here, but the short time you spent on the outside keeps you content enough to not want to venture back out.

You slow slightly to read the writing as it’s being stuck to the wall. It’s a help wanted sign, asking for any trade skilled professionals to come forwards and contact the information point on the other side of base.

They’re setting up schools. Your lips quirk slightly, already excited to tell Luke, knowing that he’s going to be dismayed.

“You interested?”

You turn your head, following the sound of the voice. You look up and squint, raising your hand to protect your eyes from the glaring July sun. Rooster stands atop the west side perimeter wall, wearing a black t-shirt and cargos. He smiles at you, adjusting the gold-rimmed sunglasses he’s wearing.

His smile is disarming, it almost makes you forget the low snarling you can hear on the other side of the wall. He doesn’t seem too phased by it.

You stare at him. “Excuse me?”

“In a job,” He points at the poster you had been looking at. You shield your eyes from the sun once more as you turn to look at him again. “What were you before?”

The man beside Rooster turns to look at you. They smile in tandem. Jake’s wearing a white shirt and aviators.

“My guess is ex-army.” Jake declares, reminding you casually that he knows you were able to take down his six foot something best friend and pin him to the floor like it was nothing. Rooster gives Jake a look, then turns his attention back towards you, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

It’s not unusual for the staff to make conversation. They’ve all been pretty chatty so far. You just aren’t sure whether these two are going to turn you in or not. Rooster, you’re fairly certain wouldn’t - not after he snuck you out those meds.

But his snake-eyed buddy, you aren’t so sure about. Jake’s lips quirk up into a soft smirk as you look back and forth between the two of them.

“Are you?” Rooster prompts.

“I might’ve been. Doesn’t matter much now.” You shrug. You weren’t, but like you said. Doesn’t matter anymore. Jake and Rooster take a look at each other, then back at you. Jake smiles, flashing you the slight dimples on his cheeks. He passes a toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other and turns back around to continue what he was doing.

The snarling grows a little louder as Jake leans over the edge and taps at the reinforced metal. Rooster’s still looking at you.

“So, are you going to sign up?” He asks.

You look between him and the sign and get a feeling that you don’t have much of a choice. It isn’t what Rooster means to imply, it’s just the he has seen you walking around a lot - you seem to be just as bored as he is. He just figures that having something to do all day would keep you from getting yourself into any more trouble.

“What if I don’t have a trade?” You ask.

“They’ll assign you something,” Jake calls back without looking at you. You wince at the sound of squelching, and then a thud as an undead body thuds to the ground. Jake pulls back the sharpened steel pole and sits back on his knees. “Could get lucky and wind up getting stuck with us doing fence patrol.”

Rooster chuckles, resting his hands on his hips. He wouldn’t mind getting stuck with you one bit.

“You have a nice day, now.” Jake winks, turning back to the other side of the fence. Rooster gives you a nod of acknowledgement and finally turns back to his work. He hits the pole against the fence a few times, drawing the lingering couple of undead that are still a while away closer to the fence.

You turn around and walk away from the two of them, pushing your hands into your pockets. You pass by the information centre on the way back and think about going in, but you continue back anyway.

“Hey, Luke!” You call.

He turns his head and is subsequently hit in the stomach with a soccer ball. You wince for him. He’s always been such a clutz. He giggles and waves off his friends, headed towards you as they continue to play.

He spends most of his time outside with them, playing some kind of game to make the days pass faster.

“What’s up?” He adjusts the cap on his head, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Have you seen this?” You point to a poster on the wall of your building, identical to every other one that was pasted up around base this afternoon. Luke pants as he leans closer to read what it says.

“What? - Is that a joke?” He yelps, frowning.

“Nope, they’re for real.” You chuckle.

“God damnit - the world ends and I still have to fucking take math?” He groans, leaning his head back. You laugh at him, slapping his chest.

“Tough luck, kiddo.” You tease him, opening the door to the building.

“Wait, are you going to drink that?” He pants, pointing to the half finished water bottle in your hand. You roll your eyes playfully as you pass it over to him without argument.

“Love you.” He grins, waving as he turns back to his friends.

“Yeah, love you too.” You answer, shaking your head as you turn to walk inside. He would die of dehydration if he was left to his own devices. You walk back up to your room and swing the door closed behind you.

“Mom?”

“In here.” She calls back. You trail your fingertips along the bumpy paint on the wall as you round the corner into your shared bedroom. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed, changing the dressing on her arm.

“You look a lot better.” You comment softly. She turns and smiles at you. Her eldest, always such a worrier. She secures the dressing down and gives a soft nod of her head.

“I feel much better.” Lindsay agrees. She stands up and gently brushes past you, walking over to wash her hands in the kitchen sink. “Have you seen those posters they put up?”

“Yeah, I saw them - are you going to volunteer?” You lean against the doorframe to the bedroom and cross your arms over your chest, watching her movements.

“I didn’t train for ten years to sit on my butt during a global crisis, sweetheart. If they want help, I’ll be more than happy to provide.” She explains, looking back at you over her shoulder with a small smile. Your mother has worked in the ER for longer than you’ve been alive, she’s seen people in pretty bad shape before.

She was on the front line at the worst of this.

“You should help too.” Lindsay comments.

“I’m not a doctor.” You remind her, brushing your hair back off of your shoulders and lifting it away from your neck. The power restrictions mean that the air conditioning have to be off most of the day and at this point in July, the room is practically a green house.

“No, but there are hundreds of kids here. They could do with-“

“I’d rather not babysit through the end of the world, Mom.”

Jake groans softly as he pulls himself back up into the truck, “I fucking smell like death.” He complains. Bradley rolls the windows down, because he’s right. It does smell like death, they both do.

“I should’ve been a WSO,” Bradley sighs, shaking his head softly. He’s soaked with sweat, blood on his hands and under his fingernails. He turns the engine on and cracks his neck. “Bob and Fanboy sitting that office all day talking to whoever the fuck about god knows what.”

Jake scoffs, nodding his head in agreement. They have civilian duties like everyone else - working the food hall, the warehouse, but they get to skip out on fence and patrol duties. Because they’re the only ones who know how to work the comms systems well enough to stay in contact with other bases.

“If you were in the office, though - you wouldn’t get to make puppy dog eyes at the girl that tackled Coyote.” Jake reminds Bradley. Bradley turns his head, brows furrowing slightly as they drive back along the beachside towards base.

It’s Cyclone’s orders that the bodies are disposed of far enough away from base that the smell doesn’t freak out the civilians. A ten minute drive to the other side of the island, near where the original road blocks are.

“I wasn’t making - shut up,” Rooster shakes his head, turning his head to the empty road ahead of him. “I can’t believe you knew she did it and didn’t say anything.”

Jake shrugs, turning his head to look out across the empty beach, remembering all of the days he spent on it before all of this crap.

“She only took what she needed, and the only real damage was to Coyote’s ego,” He explains himself, “I’m not that much of an asshole.”

Rooster agrees with him for once. In the grand scheme of things, you didn’t do much harm. They make it back through the gates and park up together, then head to the officer’s quarters.

Jake’s room is two doors up from Rooster’s, both close to the end of the hall with the good view. They’ve been here since the beginning, they got first pick. The ensigns got the shitty rooms with views of the tarmac on the other side.

“Later.” Bradley mumbles tiredly as he lets himself into his room.

“Later.” Jake agrees, continuing along and letting himself into his own room.

There are rules on base. For civilians, each block gets two hours of unrestricted electricity per day. Lights, air conditioning - they can cook if they like. They don’t have hot water - that’s a privilege that Admiral Cain can’t afford to extend to over two thousand people.

But the officers; they get what they need. Electricity, constant air conditioning, hot water, the rec room and a fully stocked kitchen. Cain needed a way to make sure his staff were going to stay put and help, and the generators can cover the small officer building.

If they’re using hot water, the rule is that they keep the shower under ten minutes. So, Bradley usually steps into cold water - to cool him down and get the first layer of grime off. Then, he’ll turn the temperature up and calm his aching muscles and make sure he’s completely clean.

It’s a good system.

He has seen the way people look, and smell, when they come in from the outside. He’s grateful to have what he has here. Plus, it’s not like he had any home to go back to anyway.

He steps out of his bathroom and tucks the towel tight around his waist, grateful to have the night off tonight. He’ll be working the quarantine zone tomorrow. It’s the most boring job on base. Sitting in an office, watching cameras to make sure whoever’s being held doesn’t turn. They never do, they don’t make it through the front gate if they’re infected.

Jake’s on civilian duties tomorrow. Working the food hall for breakfast and lunch, making sure everyone’s where they are supposed to be and keeping them out of where they aren’t supposed to be.

He knows that you go for a couple of walks a day, he’s expecting to run into you a couple of times at least. He knows you like to walk by the right side of base because you can see down to the ocean from there.

Both of them settle in for the night and think of the same girl. The next morning, they’re both equally dismayed to find that your name isn’t anywhere on the sign up sheet for jobs.

Jake flicks through the list. Your mother’s on it. Lindsay Shaw, a lifetime of experience in ICU and emergency room care. Pretty useful. Your younger brother is on it, Lucas Shaw - a little bit of knowledge with plumbing from an after school business he used to help out with. Jake finds it hard to believe that your kid brother would be more useful around here than you would.

Luckily, Jake considers himself to be a pretty convincing person.

…

@momc95 @shawnsblue @thedroneranger @cherrycola27 @zbeez-outlet @harper1666 @abaker74 @xhangmanlover @xoxabs88xox @cowboybarbie @ohtobeleah @top-gun-rooster @blue-aconite @laracrofted @bioodforbiood

[thebubblesareevil]

Life on the farm pt9 dog sitting is not for the faint of heart pt 2

It had been two days. Conner and Clark have scoured parks, graves, subways, and even the harbor. There was no sign of the pup except the collar they found near the apartment. With the collar no longer disguising Cujo they were on the lookout for a small green dog. Clark had even gotten into costume and searched from the skys. On the third day Conner got their first lead.

He was visiting a grave yard, walking amongst the stones looking for even a hint of the glowing green pup. The grave keeper was across near a mausoleum talking to a visitor. For the most part Conner tries not to listen in to strangers’ conversation but he immediately tunes in when he hears him mention a glowing green dog roaming the graves at night. Conner immediately called Clark and the two of them started to plan.

————

~Later that night~

My idiots are strange. This has got to be the strangest game of tag he had ever played. First his big idiot was hiding in a tree while the child made his way through the name stones.

Cujo stopped to scratch behind his ear, the child tried to move closer. ‘Honestly if this is how they hunt they need all the help they can get’ the child slowly tried to sneak up behind him. Cujo jumps using the child’s head to leap forward and then through the waiting arms of his big idiot.

‘It’s a good thing Phantom and the chicken overlords take such good care of his idiots. They are not very skilled at hunting. The loud story teller has her work cut out for her’

and so the chase begins.

————

The man of steel, strongest man alive, faster than a speeding bullet… was utterly defeated by a dog. Conner and Clark collapse on a park bench, the two lost sight of the green pup once again.

“He makes it look so easy” Conner groans

“I suppose it helps that he’s part ghost himself.” Clark agrees. “Think it’s time for reinforcements? I’m sure Ellie-”

Conner immediately sits up “No!” Clark looks over in confusion. Conner gives a stifled cough “Uh, I mean… she’ll never let us live it down if she finds out we lost Cujo. Could you imagine? She’s be relentless.” Clark shuddered at the thought.

“Okay then we keep looking. Got any plans?” Conner slumped.

“Not unless you’re feeling up to loosing a hundred chickens throughout metropolis.” Clark snorted

“Imagine the headline. Superman heralds in an age of chickens.”

“Perilous poultry panic!” Conner counters with a laugh.

“That’s a good one! Ever thought about going into journalism?” Clark looked at Conner curiously, he just shrugged.

“Never really thought about it really, at first when I left CADMUS I just stayed with the team. School, missions, the league decided that.” Conner smirked “then Danny came charging in and threw everything I knew out the window” he paused looking over a Clark. “I wanted to be like you know.” Clark looked away awkwardly “I don’t mean… I didn’t want to BE you I just wanted to be LIKE you. I looked up to you.” Conner stood up from bench.

“When I was at CADMUS I was taught that I was made to replace you if you died and eliminate you if you went rouge. When the team came all I wanted was to meet you, but when I did… you wanted nothing to do with me.” Conner rubbed the back of his neck. Clark sighed.

“I was the last son of a dead planet my whole life, by all rights I should have been ecstatic to meet you, you may only be half kryptonian but that’s more than I ever hoped for.” Clark looked to the ground ashamed. “It was never really you I hade a problem with, I think… I just couldn’t manage to separate the… violation that came from being cloned, from having a piece of me taken without my consent and turned into a person. You became a visible reminder of that and I just… I didn’t know how to deal with that.” Clark stood up, looking directly in Conners eyes he said “I didn’t know how to handle what happened and you suffered because of it. I’m sorry.I know an apology will never be enough to make up for how I treated you but I promise I’m going to do all I can to make it up to you.” Conner smiled

“You’ve been talking to Danny haven’t you?” Clark laughed

“I’ll admit I had some help from Danny and Jazz figuring things out. To be fair he’s had more time to process the whole cloning thing than I have.”

“Hey, there’s an upside, at least I never shot you in the back.” The two burst into laughs for a moment before Conner calms down “Thank you, it might not be much but it’s a start, it means a lot that-”

Clark speeds over to Conner covering his mouth, he raised a single finger to his lips before pointing behind him. Conner slowly turned to see a little green dog laying on his back. Conner and Clark slowly, silently make their way over to Cujo, the two of them are prepared to pounce when Cujo jumps up, tackling Conner to the ground. He then proceeds to smother Conner in kisses.

Clark let’s put a loud laugh “I guess we know who his favorite is huh?”

Conner picks Cujo up and holds him at arms length “you are in so much trouble little guy” Cujo gives a high pitched bark looking at Conner with his most efficient puppy dog eyes. Conner groans “that’s cheating, where have you been this whole time anyway?”

———

Meanwhile in the destroyed garden of a certain green eldritch horror.

“DAMN THAT MUTT TO PIECES!!!!”

——-

Cujo curled up on his bed proud of his work. The giant chicken man will think twice before messing with HIS phantom again. It has been nearly a day since he allowed the child to capture him. His big idiot was on the people box fighting a group of strange looking humans. His big idiot is clearly winning so he’s not worried as he climbs into the child’s lap to demand some much deserved attention. He sat in the child’s lap as he watched his big idiot. Everything was fine… until it wasn’t. A huge crash came from the box as the child leapt from his seat. Cujo shook his head and looked over to the box only to see his idiot on the ground, floating in the air above him was a loud thing. The loud thing laughed at his idiot, yelled sharp words at his idiot, HURTING HIS IDIOT!!!!! Cujo barks at the loud thing through the box but it does not hear him. He promised his Phantom he would keep his idiots safe. His big idiot is NOT SAFE!!! Cujo runs in a circle barking at the loud thing in the box one last time for good measure. The Child is trying to sooth him, but that is not his job. Cujo charges through the tree wall followed closely by the child. With the aid of his metal horse he chases Cujo through the streets barely keeping up. All Cujo knows now is he needs to help his big idiot. He needs to keep him Ṣ̵̨͕̭̼̜̣̻̗̰̞̍̿͂̓̍̏́͐͗̐̚ͅA̷̧̮͖̠̝̟͔̬͚̗̐̐̿͑͌̌̔F̸̛͎̘̘͔̼͎̝̯̲̯̦̳̿̔̈́̅̚̚͠͝Ę̵̢̖͙̦͙̼͂͆̆͐̒͆̎̒͝.

When he finds his big idiot the loud thing is making the ground shift and change under his feet, but that doesn’t stop Cujo as he lets out a warning bark to the loud thing. The loud thing laughs at him and calls out to something near by. A large cat jumps at Cujo, but he’s not worried. Snowball is much bigger than this creature and Cujo is much bigger than snowball…

——-

Conner frantically chases behind Cujo, he was NOT about to lose him twice in one week. He jumped on his bike and raced after him. As he drove the road started to get impossible to drive as klarion cast spell after spell at Superman. He grabbed his commutator and asked for an eta on the closest magic user with no luck. Dr. Fate is unreachable and Shazam is dealing with Black Adam. Conner abandons the bike and continues his chase. When he finally makes it to the epicenter of the fight Klarion is casting spell after spell at Superman, Conner tries to get to Cujo before Klarion notices him but he’s too slow. Cujo starts barking at Klarion, who immediately focuses on the pup.

“Well, well, what have we here? A dog? BOORing! Cats are much better don’t you think TEEKL!” Conner felt like the world was moving in slow motion as the familiar stalked towards the pup, growing with every step. Cujo, poor, sweet, tiny Cujo was growling at the massive cat trying to intimidate him. Teekl leapt, Conner yelled, Clark turned, Cujo GREW.

Before their very eyes the tiny pup that was laying on conners lap not even an hour before was fighting the lord of Chaos’ familiar with ease. His massive maw rapped around his neck as Cujo threw Teekl across the street easily. Klarion screamed.

“THAT’S CHEATING!!!!” He shouted as he tried to cast a spell to stop Cujo, but with his familiar injured, his only anchor to the mortal plane, he had no choice but to retreat with proclamations that this wasn’t over. Not that they could hear much over Cujo’s deafening barks. The moment Klarion retreated Cujo turned to Clark and slowly approached, giving him soft whines as his face covered half of his body.

Clark stared at the pup with wide eyes before smiling and patting him on the head “Good boy Cujo. You kept me safe.” The pup shrunk down to his normal size and Clark handed the pup over to Conner. “Get him back to the apartment before the press gets here.” Conner nods and the two take off.

——-

After everything with Klarion, Clark and Conner were more than happy to see the portal ripped in the air of the farm as Danny climbs out. He takes one look at the messy appearance of his brothers and laughs.

“Did you have fun with Cujo?” The two of them look at Danny like he was crazy.

“Is there something you want to tell us about Cujo?” Clark asked. Danny shrugged

“Not really, why? Did he get into something he wasn’t supposed to?” He asked tilting his head.

“Why don’t you take a look for yourself?” Danny turns on the direction that conner points too only to find Cujo covered in chickens. Danny bursts out laughing.

“My noble steed has betrayed me for chickens! Whatever shall I do?!” Cujo perks up at the sound of his voice and tackles Danny to the ground. Soon enough Ma and Pa join them.

“Did you guys know about this?” Clark asks, motioning to the massive form of the ghost dog.

Pa looks at Clark like he’s crazy “of course we did, Cujo pulls the plow when the tractors down.” Conner and Clark look at each other in despair, they were the only ones who didn’t know.

“Well at least this finally explains why other dogs get so nervous around him.” Conner shrugs.

Clark smirked “It certainly surprised Klarion.” The two laughed as Danny watched them with a smile on his face.

“Good job boy.” He says cuddling the hellhound who is simply happy to be reunited with his phantom.

[bungalowbear]

twenty.

ranger!nanami kento x psychic gym leader!reader, pokemon au, wc: 1,400

this is the final chapter of the series! thank you to everyone who has read, left comments, sent their thoughts to my inbox. it means so much to me! and of course, thank you to @strawberrystepmom for inspiring this series and for being so sweet to me always! 💜

Yuji and Nanami are in the infirmary while you meet in the living room with the mysterious woman. She stands by the tall window with her back to you, letting the sunlight warm her skin.

“Sukuna said something to me,” you start. When she doesn’t respond, you continue. “He said I was supposed to be the shield for this realm. What did he mean by that?”

She heaves a large sigh. She doesn’t turn to you, but continues to stare out into the garden as she speaks.

“Psychics are the only known persons who are born naturally with the same abilities as their Pokémon counterparts,” she explains. “Some think it’s an evolutionary mutation, and others believe it’s a blessing bestowed by the heavens. Whatever the case, you were the first psychic to ever be born.”

“That’s…” Your brow furrows. “But my grandmother was a psychic.”

“Your soul has been reincarnating for millions of years.” She finally turns to face you. Her gaze lands on you, warm and patient. “In your first life you conquered a strong adversary and were then chosen to keep humanity safe.”

“Was that adversary Sukuna?”

“No.” Her eyes shift to the side, softly glazing over as if she’s gone back in time. “Though he was in a later life. He wanted power like yours, and he made it happen. But he always knew that defeating you would be the ultimate test of his strength.”

“I didn’t…know. No one told me. If they did I wouldn’t have left Sabrina’s gym.”

“Sabrina?” Her gaze returns to you. “Was she your guide?”

“She was my mentor.”

“Was she good to you?”

“She was very strong and knew a lot, but she was really…intense.” You walk toward the chair by the window and take a seat, avoiding her questioning look. “I, uh, left after a few years and went off on my own.”

“You are assigned a new guide in every life,” she says easily. “Some are good fits, and others aren’t.”

You glance up at her and she shrugs.

“Not that I’m not grateful,” you shift in your seat, angling yourself toward her, “but why did you help us against Sukuna?”

“You and I have met before.” She chuckles at the surprise in your face. “About a thousand years ago you were originally tasked to defeat him, but like now, you were not fully capable of harnessing your power. So, the task fell to me. But I could not destroy him. Instead I sealed him away. Now, every thousand years or so I search for his vessel and reinforce the seal when needed.”

You nod at her explanation, fascinated. It’s so strange to be told about a past you can’t remember. But, clearly, she remembers it all. 

“He called you his Queen,” you say.

“We were young when we first fell in love. He was very handsome, and strong, and ambitious.” A somber expression paints her features. “I didn’t realize what he was becoming until it was too late. My love for him blinded me, and many paid the price with their lives.”

“What you did with the fire…how is that possible? You said only psychics are naturally born with a Pokémon’s abilities. Was Sukuna the same?”

“He claimed to have discovered a ritual that could harness the essence of a fire type Pokémon. I didn’t believe him until the first time I saw him shoot an arrow made entirely of flame out of his hand. He asked me to also undergo the ritual so that we could be equals and live together for eternity. I didn’t know at the time that the exchange for performing the ritual was to exchange your soul.”

“So, he lied to you.”

“I forgave him for deceiving me,” she admits. “I loved him. And as long as we could be together it didn’t matter in the end.”

The two of you stay silent for a long minute. You contemplate her words and wonder if you’d ever feel a love so strong you’d be willing to do whatever it took to stay together. Your eyes cut to the door, the one that leads to the hallway that’s adjacent to the infirmary. Perhaps you’re closer to it than you think. 

“So what happens now?” you ask, pulling yourself out of you thoughts.

“The danger is gone. For now,” she says. “He will return, but your current life will be long over by then. But that doesn’t mean other dangers won’t appear. Keep learning. Don’t be afraid of your power. I was able to help you here, but next time I might not.”

“I understand.”

“But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy your life.” She walks the length of the room. Her head craning up to examine the crown molding where the walls meet the ceiling. “This is quite an impressive gym, but it’s become more of a cage for you, hasn’t it?”

“You’ve been watching me?”

“Here and there. I had to keep an eye on things.” She speaks so casually. It both fascinates and riddles you with many questions. “You have many friends. Good friends. You should visit them more often.”

Before you can respond she’s already heading toward the door, waving a poised hand over her shoulder. Departing as swiftly as she arrived.

As soon as you step into the infirmary Yuji shoots out of bed and wraps his arms around you. Nurse Aurora pleads with the boy that he needs to be resting, but as soon as the first sob escapes him there are no more protests. 

One of your arms snakes around his shoulders while the other smooths the back of his head until he settles down. After a few minutes, Yuji pulls away and wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

“Thank you for helping me,” he says.

“You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t know what was happening.” Yuji frowns. His usually bright eyes are dim. “I didn’t know he was in there until it was too late. I couldn’t stop him. And when I almost hurt you…”

“Hey. You didn’t hurt me.” Your hands stay on his shoulders, forcing him to face the assurance of your gaze. “You didn’t hurt anyone. It’s over now. Okay?”

His eyes are still misty when he nods. Nurse Aurora leads him back to the bed. You stand beside Nanami as she performs a few diagnostic tests on him. You and Nanami quietly observe, your hands brushing against the other until, finally, enough courage is gathered between the two of you to intertwine your fingers.

Yuji is splashing in the shallow edge of the lake with Espeon, Zorua, and Lucario while you and Nanami watch from where you lounge on the checkered blanket spread out on the grass. A small ice box filled with cold drinks and sweet treats sits at one corner. Nanami lays on his side facing you while reading a book, and you’re sitting up, leaning back on your hands, while you soak up the sun and enjoy the sounds of merriment coming from the water. 

“I’m thinking of taking a trip,” you tell Nanami.

“Oh?” He looks up from his book. “Where to?”

“Opelucid City.” You turn your head down to look at him. “There’s someone waiting for me there.”

“That’s quite a journey.” His hand reaches out to pinch the hem of your shirt between two fingers. “You’ll be gone for some time.”

“I will.” Pausing, you consider your next words. He’s been kinder to you the last few days. But what if that’s only because of Yuji? Now that the danger has passed, what does that mean for you and Nanami? Despite your uncertainty, you add, “But…maybe on my way back I can stop by Olivine City.”

“Yuji would like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm.” Nanami’s lips curve ever so subtly. “And…I would like that as well.”

You place your hand over his, turning it over so that your palms rest against each other’s and your fingers slot perfectly between his. You stare at your joined hands. Your mind is at ease knowing even when you’re both different than when you first knew each other, you’re somehow still the same. You look up to meet his warm gaze and your stomach flutters.

Nanami tightens his hold. Warmth flares within your chest as hope takes root.

This is the second chance you’ve both been waiting for. 

series masterlist

i do not have a taglist. please follow @bungalowbear-archive and turn on notifications.

[bookish-whore]

Falling Part VI

Azriel x Reader

Words: 4.5k

Warnings: Angst, light discussion of domestic abuse, Az still being an idiot. Some fluff.

A/N: Surprise it's out a little earlier than I anticipated. This is the first chapter where I’m trying out a different POV. So, let me know what you guys think! I am so so so grateful for the support you have all shown this story and me (I literally love you all <3). As always, my requests are open, and I am slowly working through them!

My Masterlist -> Here

Falling Masterlist -> Here

--------------------------------------------------

The Day Court is as beautiful as they say. I had only been here a few days, but I don’t think I could tire of waking to this view. The sprawling greenery, the rolling hills, the airy smells. Everything just felt so bright, like a gentle morning breeze in early fall. I hadn’t felt this light or carefree in weeks, further validating my decision to flee here. Sure, I had felt some regret about running away, but everything had become so hard. It seemed like everywhere I went, everyone I talked to had an opinion about what I should do, and it was suffocating me. My time here would hopefully give me some clarity about what I needed to do and some time to figure out what I wanted out of this whole thing.

I sat up, stretching my arms above my head. I had to admit I was looking forward to our excursion today, Lucien was taking me on a library tour, I had heard countless stories about the thousand libraries of the Day Court, and I was especially interested in the progress rebuilding them. Lucien told me that Amarantha had done some serious damage to the works here, before everything that happened under the mountain, she had personally looted the knowledge kept here. I know Helion, and now Lucien, had been hard at work collecting works and making repairs, reinforcing wards and such. Helion had also promised to show me his private study.

I couldn’t help but wonder what tomes Helion “spell-cleaver” had selected as necessary for his everyday use, what his favorite volumes were. I would also be helping Lucien compile his own assortment of books for his study. Excited at the thought, I threw off my bedsheets and made my way to the bathroom, which had a wall of floor to ceiling windows allowing the morning light to stream in casting the room in a warm glow. I filled the bath, throwing in an assortment of oils and salves as I undressed and lowered myself into the warm water reclining my head against the side before slowly dipping my head below the water’s surface. I took my time, the heat of the water relaxing my limbs and seeping into my bones.

Once I was satisfied, and the water had begun to cool, I climbed out of the tub wrapping myself in a fluffy towel and making my way to the closet. Helion had been a more than gracious host, providing me with some dresses in Day Court fashion. In all honesty it was practically an entire boudoir he was an extravagant male. I selected a light blue and gold dress, the material flowy and light. it had a deep V, the material snuggly keeping my breasts in place, it also had a low back which was a godsend considering the weather was warmer here than it was in the Night Court.

Satisfied with how I looked, I made my way downstairs for breakfast, where the high lord and Lucien were undoubtedly waiting. As I descended the stairs, I could hear their laughter echoing through the halls of the palace. As I approached the dining room, a pair of fae opened the doors allowing me a grander entrance than I expected. I couldn’t help but smile at the showmanship. I walked into the room, locking eyes with Helion immediately.

“Be still my heart. y/n you- are absolutely breathtaking” Helion said as I entered the room. I made my way to the empty seat at his side, opposite Lucien, as Helion took my hand placing a gentle kiss to it as I sat.

“You should not conflate my ego as you do, or I might never leave” I teased

“Perhaps I enjoy your company and am trying to seduce you into staying” the high lord responded. Lucien shook his head, hiding a roguish smile.

“How did you sleep?” Lucien asked

“Best I have had in weeks” I said

“I’m glad my court is treating you so well” Helion said taking a sip from his glass. The remainder of breakfast was uneventful, Lucien and Helion discussed plans for an upcoming festival, they talked about library repairs and general business and Helion told stories about Lucien’s first few weeks in the court getting to know everyone, he made sure to include the events that would make me laugh, like Lucien getting thrown off Meallan when Helion introduced him to the Pegasus.

Once my laughter subsided Lucien spoke “Are you ready for the libraries y/n”

My eyes undoubtedly lit at the suggestion “gods yes!” I practically squealed. Lucien rose from his seat making his way over to me and extended his hand, I grabbed it immediately and we practically ran from the dining room leaving Helion sitting there a large smile plastered on his face.

As we walked to the library I took in the scenery and the architecture. When we arrived at the doors to the library I was in awe. It was a towering structure, so many tall spires that were undoubtedly filled with books, all the knowledge of Prythian. The carvings in the stone so intricate and the greenery growing around the building entombing the sides with vines, flowers, and moss.

As I took in the view, I didn’t notice Helion had joined us until Meallan landed beside me. His muscled body glimmering in the light and his long black mane blowing in the breeze. He chuffed and I reached my hand out to him. I had never seen a Pegasus in person, let alone touched one. Helion pulled the reigns guiding the winged horse to me, his nose pressing into my hand. I reached my other hand to stroke his neck, I looked over to find both Helion and Lucien smiling at me. Meallan let out a huff before flying into the air. I watched him become nothing more than a black spot on the horizon. My attention brought back to the looming building in front of me.

“Come along y/n, the libraries await” Helion said, muttering the old language under his breath as the doors opened revealing rows and rows of Ivory shelves all filled with books. As I stepped inside, I reclined my head finding that everywhere I looked there were shelves of books and scrolls. It was a vast sea of knowledge as far as I could see. Lucien took my hand guiding me through the building towards the studies. I was grateful for him, had he not guided me along, I think I would have been rooted to where I had been standing frozen as I took in the beauty of this place. I had never seen anything like it.

Helion’s study was not at all what I expected. Oak furniture adorned the space, and the tones were much darker than I thought they would be. Helion often surrounded himself in light colors, but this space was all deep browns, and blues, there were some gold and white accents but not at all what I expected. As I looked at the books on the shelves, I was not surprised to find magic books, spell books, personal journals, and some healing texts. I was surprised to find some romance books on his desk. I made a mental note to remember the author’s name and look her up myself later. Once we left Helion’s study and made our way to the opposite wing where Lucien’s would be, Helion got called away on high lord business. He promised to catch up later and winnowed away.

Lucien’s study was still being decorated but I wasn’t surprised by his use of color. Green and auburn reminiscent of his childhood home. Floral plants and yellow accents for his time in the spring court and perhaps to remind him of Elain. We spent hours poring over books, selecting materials for Lucien’s office. Chatting about everything and nothing. It was easy and comfortable to be here, with him.

“So, what do you think y/n” Lucien asked

“I think that this place is amazing” I said a beaming smile on my face

“It’s good to see you like this…happy and carefree” Lucien says

“It’s nice to actually feel happy.” I reply

“I’m glad you’re here y/n” the autumn prince said “I don’t think I could do this without your help. Not just the study but this whole engagement thing. I mean finding out Helion is my father paired with the other stuff has been a lot but you- you have made it so much easier”

“I couldn’t do this without you either” I said pulling him into a tight embrace

“It’s about time we head back” Lucien said “but Helion has given you unrestricted access to the library for whenever you should wish to immerse yourself in it.”

I smiled taking another long look at the space before Lucien pulled me to him to winnow us back to the palace. When we arrived in the foyer, Lucien reminded me of our dinner plans, he wanted to have an intimate dinner, just us so we could talk.

“I just need to change and freshen up and I’ll meet you downstairs” I said, Lucien gave me a nod before heading to his own quarters and I made the trek back to my room.

--------------------------------------------------

As I walked back to my room, I was surprised to find Helion sitting in one of the many large windows of the hall, his back resting against a stone pillar with one leg swinging into the open air and the other tucked against him at an angle so he could rest his arm upon it. Helion had such a casual charisma and it reminded me of Azriel, reminders of him were everywhere, even here, in this place.

“Something on your mind y/n” Helion asked delicately as I approached sitting opposite him, leaning against the pillar.

“Just- thinking about my situation.” I responded

“Ah- the business with the Shadowsinger I presume” he asked

“That would be the one” I looked out at the setting sun admiring the hundreds of colors that were reflected in the fading light.

“I heard he was engaged; to the other Archeron sister, Elain right?”

“He is” I said with a solemn nod

“And she is Lucien’s mate, is she not?”

“She is” I say softly

“I see why you and my son get along so well.” The high lord began “Not everyone can understand the pain of unrequited love”

“Can you?” I tentatively asked him

“My dear, I think I understand much better than most” he took a deep breath “Have I ever told you about my one love?”

I shook my head. And the high lord began.

“It was the equinox ball, hundreds of years ago now, but I can still recall the moment she walked in the room. She was a thing of beauty, the room halting at her very presence. Her smile was radiant, her auburn hair glimmering in the faelight. I recall that moment quite often. She looked so carefree then. Of course, I immediately approached her and asked for a dance.” he smiled at the memory “It was a waltz, and I knew after that single dance that I wanted to be with her for the rest of my days. That I would spend an eternity waiting for her. I didn’t realize at the time that I actually would. We talked all night, she told me about her sisters, about her life in the Autumn court, about how she wanted more for her life, she wanted to see the world and have adventures. She wanted to be more than just a wife and a mother. We admitted many things that night, but when morning came…she was gone.” Helion’s eyes were glassy as he continued telling me about Lucien’s mother.

“I found out a few weeks later that her family, in pursuit of political alliances, had promised her to Beron. Of course, there were rumors, rumors that she waited before agreeing to the marriage and I had hoped that she would return my letters, that she felt the same way I did. But they married and she began having his children. and I didn’t hear from her for decades. Not until- until Hybern’s attack on her family estate where they murdered her sisters, and she was presumed dead. I didn’t believe that, and I went out scouring the forests for any sign of her. By the time I found her, she was inconsolable. I brought her back to my home for her to escape her grief and that began a decades long love affair between us. In all honesty, I didn’t know that Lucien was my son, maybe a small part of me had hoped, but it wasn’t until Rhys and Feyre that I had any confirmation.” Helion took another shaky breath.

“And I knew what Beron did to her all those years, his punishment for her love for me. I knew how he abused her, belittled her, dimmed her radiant light. but every time I begged her to leave, to come to me she refused. I think she was doing her best to protect her -our- son. I have to admit, even now I hold out hope that she will leave him. that she will show up on my doorstep so we can finally begin the life we should have had together because I will always love her, until my last day”

I wiped away the tears that fallen as he finished his story.

“Does it get any easier?” I ask

“No” he said solemnly “but let me be the one to tell you that I regret nothing. I would never regret loving her or the time we spent together. I only wish for more of it.”

“But hasn’t love left you lonely?” I asked

“Being able to say that I loved and lost is my greatest achievement, besides Lucien. I pity those who don’t feel love at all.”

“Thank you” I said softly, the high lord pulled me into a tight hug

“I think you will be just fine my dear” Helion said before departing down the hall towards his own chambers “perhaps you’ll even be happy” he called out before disappearing completely.

--------------------------------------------------

Once in my room, I quickly changed into a simple dress, it was of the same material as the blue dress a light airy design that flowed softly to the ground, only this one was white with gold accents. I ran a comb through my hair and after checking the time made my way downstairs to meet Lucien.

When I saw Lucien, I couldn’t help but think that the day court suited him well. He had changed into a white and gold tunic, open at the chest to reveal his muscled torso, his red hair pulled back into a leather tie. I smiled at the fact that we were in matching ensembles. He held out his arm which I took without a second thought as he led us to the terrace, not the dining room.

He had set up a sweet dinner for us, a small table overlooking the gardens on the terrace. There was greenery all around and we would get the perfect view of the sunset when it came time for it. The table was adorned with a simple tablecloth, and candles, and a tray of fruits, breads, and cheeses. Two glasses of wine waiting for us.

“Lucien, this- this is beautiful” I said

“I figured this would be a nice change of pace” he replied

I made my way to one side of the table, and he pulled out my chair for me before taking his own seat. He picked up his glass and motioned for me to do the same. I smiled as I raised it to his.

“To us” he said “to our friendship and to many more years together”

“To us” I repeated tapping my glass against his with a soft clink.

We engaged in easy conversation; Lucien was always easy to talk to and before I knew it a group of servants appeared bringing out our dinner. We were having roasted lamb with potatoes and an assortment of vegetables. As we began to eat Lucien grew somewhat serious. He took a deep breath before breaking the brief silence.

“I feel like I need to tell you something, but I don’t want you to panic or freak out about it” Lucien said

“Okay, well with that kind of introduction to whatever the news is, I am panicking just a little”

“I received a letter” he began to say

“You receive many letters” I said sarcastically

“A letter from Elain” I practically spat my wine as I set down my knife and fork.

“From Elain?” I ask, needing him to confirm what he said

“Yes” he said “she wants to get to know me better, and apologizes for how she behaved these past years since the cauldron”

“Can I see it?” I ask tentatively.

“Of course” Lucien says “there are no secrets between us” he reached into his pocket pulling out a piece of parchment and handing it to me. Her delicate sprawling script, intricate and neat on the letter. I read it twice to be sure I was seeing correctly:

Dear Lucien,

I’m sure you are confused as to why I am writing to you, especially when I have been so staunchly opposed to you these past few years. I can only imagine what that has been like for you, and I wanted to sincerely apologize for dismissing you so quickly. You must realize that I had just become fae, and so many things were changing for me I couldn’t handle the idea of a mate. I still struggle with it now.

However, I was hoping you might be open to having tea sometime whenever you feel you are ready. I would like the opportunity to know you. mating bond or no, you are one of my sister’s dear friends and I hope we can develop some kind of friendship. I understand if you would choose not to, being that I am engaged to another male. but I figured writing you was the only way to find out.

Best Wishes,

Elain Archeron

“Are you going to meet her?” I asked

“I haven’t decided, I mean it feels strange for her to request a meeting as though I will simply come running to her side. I am not some trained animal, and she cannot simply summon me when she feels like it.” Lucien says

“I understand, I think it is strange too. but… I do really think the transition to fae has been difficult for her and maybe she is finally coming to terms with what it all means for her future, immortality for a human is hard to fathom. I think you should take time to decide, but I think you should meet with her if only for yourself. I think after all this time you deserve some closure”

“And what about you? Have you figured out a solution to your own problem” he asked

“I have” I said taking in a deep breath “When I get home, I am going to deal with it all and I am ready for it. But I think for now I want to enjoy a few more days of not worrying about things. The calm before the storm you know?”

Lucien nodded his head and we stood from the table making our way to the railing of the terrace to watch the sunset.

“I think it’s going to work itself out, for us both. I have to have faith that all of this heartache and pain is leading us towards something.” he says softly. I nod in agreement.

With that, Lucien and I continued to watch the sunset in silence. He shifted his position to stand behind me and I leaned my head on his chest, his chin coming to rest atop my head and his arms wrapped around my torso. In this moment, the notion of mating bonds, proposals, confessions, and of the Spymaster weren’t invading my every thought and I was content watching the sunset in the gentle arms of my best friend.

--------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile Back in the Night Court…

“I just don’t understand why she would leave so suddenly. What was so urgent that she couldn’t say goodbye, that she couldn’t explain?” Azriel asked

“She left letters Az” Cassian said “She explained to Rhys, Feyre, Nes and I her reasons for leaving and I think if she wanted you to know why she was leaving, she would have told you”

Azriel let out a frustrated sigh “Yeah, she left you all letters but said nothing to me. Cass did I do something? did I upset her somehow? I just- I thought we were close.”

“Why has this got you so worked up brother?” Cassian asked, “Do you- do you have feelings for y/n?”

“Cass, I’m engaged” Azriel responded, wrapping his wrists for sparring.

“That wasn’t my question, and you know it”

“I don’t know Cass, I feel this- this pull towards her and it makes me feel so fucking guilty because I’m engaged to Elain. I love Elain, I really do, but there is something about y/n…something I can’t shake. I just want to be around her all the time. When something happens, she is the first person I want to tell. I-” Azriel shakes his head as though expelling a thought “I don’t know Cass.”

“You want to know what I think?” Cassian asks

“Not particularly, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me anyways so go ahead”

“I think that you need to sort your shit out. Because from where I am standing, with what you just said it sounds like you have feelings for y/n. If that is the case, you need to call off whatever it is you have with Elain and decide what you want.”

“I want Elain, I proposed to her for gods sake. I want to spend my life with her, I made a commitment”

“If that was true brother, you wouldn’t even think twice about y/n. I’m not judging you, I just- I want you to be happy”

“I am happy”

“Yeah, I don’t believe that for one second, you have been miserable since finding out y/n left. You’ve been moping around the house, not sleeping, acting irritable”

“Can we just drop this” Azriel says getting into a defensive position preparing to spar with Cassian. Ignoring the feeling that the male in front of him was right.

----- a few hours later -----

After his conversation and consequent hours long sparring session with Cassian, Azriel made his way to the River House, looking for Rhysand to offer him a proposition.

He eventually found the male in his office, pouring over documents on his desk. He also noticed Feyre, who was lounging on a couch nearby, a book in hand, while she kept an eye on Nyx who was sleeping peacefully in her lap. She smiled at the Shadowsinger as he approached Rhys suddenly feeling nervous about his choice to come to him.

“Can we talk Rhys?” Azriel said softly

“Of course, what about?” the High Lord responded giving the male in front of him his undivided attention.

“About y/n” Azriel said, fidgeting with his hands

Rhys eyes widened slightly, waiting to see exactly what the context was surrounding his interest in you. At the sound of your name, Feyre’s attention was immediately drawn to the conversation. She bookmarked her page and set her book on the nearest table, paying attention to what was going to be said while gently ensuring Nyx remained sleeping.

“I know that she left, and that she gave you all letters explaining why” Azriel began “and I think she left to escape something, I don’t know what, but I want, no, I need to make sure she is okay” Azriel said, Rhys face remained emotionless at the admission from his friend.

“If I could just- just see her letter to you then maybe I would feel better about her leaving, maybe it would give me context. Maybe it could give me a better understanding of why she felt she had to leave.” Azriel said running his hands through his hair

“I’m sorry brother, I can’t do that” Rhys said gently

“Why not? Come on, its just a letter”

“Because if she wanted you to know why she left, she would have told you. she would have left you something. And her instructions were clear; we could tell you where she went and who she was with but not why she left. I’m sorry Azriel but I have to respect her wishes.”

“Then send me to the Day Court. For research, recon, something. anything” Az pleaded. Rhys simply raised his hand, a gesture for the Spymaster to stop talking.

“Absolutely not Az, I’m sorry but I am not going to send my spymaster to another court for no reason just so you can talk to y/n. She needed space from all of us and I am going to make sure she gets that. She will come back when she is ready to face her problems.” Rhysand said, his voice dominant and assertive.

Azriel’s shadows swirled around him, without another word he left. Winnowing back to the House of Wind.

Rhysand made his way to the couch where his mate sat with their sleeping babe. Gently maneuvering them so he could rest behind them. Feyre leaning herself back to rest her back against his chest as he ran soft comforting circles along her arms. Admiring his sleeping son.

“Do you think he knows” Feyre asked her mate softly

“No, we would know if he did” Rhys said gently “but I think he is putting the pieces together, it’s only a matter of time now before she tells him, the bond snaps, or he figures it out”

“Cassian spoke to him earlier and he thinks Az has feelings for y/n, feelings that exist outside of the bond” Feyre said

“I think his demeanor tonight revealed that” Rhys said with a roguish grin “I mean he wanted to read her letter or be sent to the Day Court just so he could see her. Obviously, he has feelings for her she’s only been gone a few days and he is losing it”

“I guess only time will tell” Feyre said, Rhys nodded in agreement pressing a kiss to her temple

“But for now, I think this should stay between us” Rhys said, Feyre simply nodded her attention focused on the babe in her arms who was slowly waking from his nap.

From outside the door, they were both unaware that another set of fae ears had been listening. A soft pair of footsteps quietly retreating from the office into the darkness of the hall.

Next Chapter ->

--------------------------------------------------

If you want to be added to my taglist let me know!

--------------------------------------------------

Taglist: @moonfawnx @we-were-beautiful @96jnie @frgman-sins @fromdelos @qtljs @goldentournesol @ruler-of-hades @mrs-azriel @feyretopia @starlit-terror @daily-dose-of-sass @mulansaucey @owllover123 @redbleedingrose @hollyismentallyillhelp @famousbasementpainter @luna-1-3-5 @marigold-morelli @topaz125 @aelinismyqueen @elizarikaallen @clueless-gold @starrstrucked @em---r @snoopythemaincoon @satellitesunshine @bankerfrog @strawbwebbie @morks-watermelon @kristalhi @lolabell0556 @intrxde @aubreylovesthegames @xxoverthinkerxx @caosfanblr @mis-lil-red @haswellington @wolfyland07 @answer-the-sirens @kaz-2y567 @marssssaturn @judig92 @esposadomd @violet-shadows @meghan52300 @biblophilefox82 @issybee0611 @writingsbychlo @katherinereid @baarishkiboond @hernameispia @positivewitch @dragonqueeneliza

[vashtijoy]

Loved your analysis posts on Akechi and the PT. Imo I feel like people greatly overblow Akechi's third semester personality. I constantly see him written as being really aggressive to the PT and he IS but also not really? He's cold and pragmatic in order to get the job done, he's not interested in starting catfights with them.

His interactions with Sumire in particular showcase this really well. Akechi's not offering her a shoulder to cry on but he does give her a hand when he feels she's about to compromise the mission.

He insults Maruki to hell and back but it's not like his "true self" has no filter when it comes to interacting with allies.

Thank you! And yeah, I agree. Third semester Akechi is pretty much collected, focused on business, matter-of-fact. Cold and distant as fuck. Cynical, of course. He interjects snide comments and personal attacks into what he says, but he doesn't do it constantly; he'll say exactly what he thinks, unless he has a reason not to. Irritate him even a little, and you'll know all about it. And despite "I'm always calm" being such a meme, he does seem very calm—but I think it is explicitly an outward calm. It's the sort of calm that makes someone seem deadly.

I wonder how well he compartmentalises in that month. He's always shoved everything he doesn't want to face into a box. Is he still doing that? Or is it breaking down? The "dead man walking" thing must colour everything he thinks, for instance—he's prepared to face his death rather than live under Maruki, but that doesn't mean he actually wants to die. There are a couple of moments where he's like... I have a philosophical objection to this, or hey, check out this cool thing. And then he just... stops. What's the point? Who cares? Why bother? He almost seems kind of depressed.

Plus, as far as his ~redemption~ and ~second chances~ go—he's not going to mend any bridges in a month. He doesn't have to come to terms with a damn thing. He can just shove anything that's going on with him down into its box where it belongs. All he has to do is focus on getting his mission over the line. For one month. And you can speculate about how successful he ultimately is.

He still introspects, like in the Jazz Jin conversations. He shows concern for Joker and Sumi. And why does he care about Sumi? Don't forget that at first, in his navi phase, he thinks she's the Palace ruler; he's watching her. But later, I think Sumi makes him think about his own situation, maybe, with the way she overcomes her false self and commits to her true self. And he does like people who make him think.

And what's even left, when all the false, simpering shit is removed? Some of it's the void: the emotional emptiness and the pure determination that got him into such a fucking mess to begin with. That's really him. The impatience with idiots and the sharp tongue is him for sure—he wants to fucking talk, finally, to say at least some of what he really thinks. He's doing the same thing in the confidant: he puts something out there, and sees if he gets pushed back. What will it take, to make them cast him out? How much of him will be "too much"?

So there's also that impulse to keep everyone away, which contradicts the definitely-real Akechi we saw at the end of the engine room, with all his masks gone: "none of that happened, that's not me, if you think it was, I'll make you wish you didn't". It will take much longer to face that than he has. And it would be dangerous to the mission to do it. So why bother?

Some of it's Cognitive Akechi, I think, who showed up unstoppable and deadly at Akechi's lowest point. Don't forget how closely the Akechi fight parallels the Okumura fight, with the beatdown by the Phantom Thieves leading to an execution by an Akechi. I don't know if third semester Akechi consciously mimics Cogkechi, but it seems likely that he is influenced by him; that that image of Shido's reinforces what Akechi would view as his strongest points.

As for losing his shit in combat? Yeah, that's a deliberate choice too, and something he has full control over, other than in the showdown where he uses Call of Chaos. Just like Joker, he puts a mask on to unmask a difficult aspect of himself, one that has no place in society.

I think there's at least a bit of the gutter-rat kid he was showing, when he fights. Every time his voice breaks down (and I work from the Japanese audio because I'm a nerd and a weeb) I wonder... okay, this is a textbook anime breakdown into the villain voice, but is there a class differential here? Maybe it's a British thing but I'm weak for Akechi losing his polished accent under stress, fight me.

So yeah—you want him to be ashamed and cower in the corner? Like he has to earn the right to be there? No, he's not going to do that. He fights the way he wants, the way he enjoys and needs to fight—while still remaining within the confines of the team. And it is only in combat that he's like that; he even keeps his usual surface calm when they're walking around in the Palace and in the cutscenes. I don't think it's surprising Maruki makes him lose his shit; Maruki is trying to manipulate him. And that's a trigger for Akechi, make no mistake.

That moment he unchains himself in the engine room stays with him forever, I think:

HELLO, CREEPY BOY but watch his face: he smiles. He sees something. He understands something. And he doesn't forget it.

[jpitha]

Because You need it.

My entry for this weeks @flashfictionfridayofficial

I was sure this was the end.

We were on a cargo ship, doing a run to a starbase run by a local cartel - the captain knew it was a risky job, but we needed the money - when pirates had warped in, right next to us! Their guns shredded our defenses, but the captain made a run for it anyway. They fired a grapple and caught us before we could even think that we had gotten away.

When they boarded, they killed the captain and the command deck officers immediately. They stole all our cargo and captured us. "For ransom" their translator modules said with a mechanical laugh.

We were all lead aboard the pirate ship in chains.

Everyone was resigned to their fate, but when we took in at the next starbase, I thought there might be an opening. They had opened the door to give us our barely edible "food" and I saw the hall beyond. I ducked under out captor and ran as fast as I could.

Hearing their shouts, I didn't waste energy with a glance back.

I just ran.

I was on a strange starbase, with no idea where I was, let alone even a way to call anyone for help. Not paying attention to where I was going, I ran full into this being.

They were tall and dense and wore an armored pressure suit, polished to a glossy back. They must be from a world that doesn't have the same methane helium atmosphere we do, so they were trapped in their suit. Bipedal. Even though their suit I could see that they had surprisingly delicate fingers, made for high dexterity work.

They bent down, and as they did, their black helmet cleared, revealing a bilaterally symmetrical face with two eyes and long red fur on the top of their head, piled behind the helmet. As they bent down their translator module clicked.

"please speak so that the appropriate language family can be found and translated."

"Um" I said. "Help me? I don't know where I am, and people are after me. My ship was captured and we were all taken prisoner."

After a moment for the translator to work, the being's face went wide and they leaned back. I held up my arms, still shackled to reinforce my predicament.

Their translator was smooth and very natural sounding. I was surprised at how good it was. "Of course we'll help you. Let's go rescue your friends."

"What?" I said and before I could blink 5 more of the black suited individuals appeared, all carrying massive rifles. I lead them back the way I came and they appeared at the umbilical to the pirate's ship.

In a clear, melodious voice the black suited leader called out: "Surrender and you will survive. Resist and perish."

At that, the pirates fired a slug thrower at the figure. It caromed off their armor and they didn't even flinch! Once again, the leader bent down and spoke to me.

"Wait here a moment please."

"All 6 of them darkened their helmets and walked purposefully in. I stayed back, listening to the sounds of battle. Their rifles made a tremendous noise when they fired them, and soon the shouts and taunts from the pirates became screams and whimpers.

After not long at all, they came back out with all of my surviving crew behind them.

"There you go. They won't be bothering anyone anymore. Do you have a way to go home?"

I ruffled my frill no.

The leader bent down and made some gestures on the pad attached to their arm.

"Well, with the crew dead, and the ship captured as a legal spoil of battle - nice of them to fire first - I declare this ship to legally be yours now."

I stood dumbstruck. I opened my mouth and said "T-thank you."

"You're welcome. We're happy we could help." And as they stood back up to leave I shouted. "Wait! Who are you?"

They turned and cleared their helmet again. In their clear, musical voice the translator said "My Name is Miriam Elemii and these are-" she gestured "Miriam's Marauders. We're a Human mercenary group."

"Human?"

"Yup! Glad to meet you. Now, keep in touch, we'd love to hear how you're getting on, and if you ever need some help-" she handed him a card "Give us a call."

[maxismp1]

I'm here now, König...

König x reader. Angst, comfort and bit of graphic stuf

You and König knew eachother since the very start.. Him being a colonel and you a simple lieutenant. Many missions togetger and separated, feelings caught, hurt and yet again, revived.

This OP was no diferent then other. A simple get in, grab intel and get out. Nothing can be simple. König was caught. Evryone only found out after a week of his absence. And you, the second you found out , volontered to find him. Assembling a small squad of 4 people to find was a quick thing. Everyone wanted there colonel to come back, even tho some daubted he was alive at all.

"Blitz in, climbing levels" your voice chimes true the coms while you climb the stairs where he was held. Once clena black uniform now coverd in dark red liquid. Many bodies behind you, left to rot. They have died by your hand, and so will others in your way.

Soon, you reach the final door, quickly and quietly taking out the two guards. Painfull yet hushed groans and pleades are geard from the other side of the door.. All of them to familiar.

With your strenght, you push the heavy door open. In there you see something that would make even the Ghost puke. König was chained by his hands to the roof, making his body dangle a bit. His legs tied to one another. Body bare, only underwear on. Many bruises, newly opend wounds, blood driping from his body onto the cold concreet floor. They striped him off of any pride or secretys. Even the mask torn and trown onto the floor. His soft ginger hair that you loved to run your fingers true now fallen onto his face, sticking onto the bloodied forhead.

Inside were two other guards and a man holding a dagger, once drgaing it over his body but noe standing aware of your presance.

You fully push the door open, standing in the middle with a dagger in hand, eyes widen in rage and discust. Without a word you leap and attack. Slicing the mans neck and hitting his head onto the floor. The dagger trown onto one of the other guards, hiting dead centar of its chest. As the final guard gose to fire his wepon, you duck and trip him. Quickly stanfing up and stoping on tgere skull. Killing them aswell.

Heavy breathing come out if your lips as you catch your breath. A small groan if pain leaves Königs lips, slowly turning your head in his direction before walking to him.

"what have they done to you.." you move to gently remove the chains around his hands. As the restraints were cut off, Konig slumped over onto your shoulder. He breathed a sigh of relief now that the fight was over, but the injuries he had sustained were obvious.He winced as he put weight on his legs, wincing in pain.He tried to regain his footing, but you could tell he wasn't doing too well.He took a step towards you before his knees collapsed, and he went down hard.

"hey hey hey.." you stand infront of him. Even as he is kneeling, he is few inches taller. "konig, hey.. Take it slowly... All of them are dead, no one can hurt you.. Others are outside waiting... We have time.." you sit on the floor and move so his head rests on your lap. speaking into the coms for rainforcments to help lift him and get him to the vheicle broth hid atention back to you, but it didnt last long.

He rested his head on your lap, taking a couple deep breaths. He then looked up at you, his injured face was now only a few inches away.

"You came..." he said softly, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Blitz could see a faint blush come across Konig's face as she realized that he was resting on her lap. He glanced down but didn't move off, instead he stayed where he was, allowing her to comfort him while they waited for reinforcements.

"of course.. Always.."

Konig nodded again, glancing down at his naked and injured body. It had been cold, but now that he was with you and no longer fighting for his life he could start thinking about other things.

"Blitz...can I ask you something...?" he said softly, still keeping his head on your lap.

"save your energy.. I need you to stay awaik for me, okay?"

Konig smiled faintly at you before he let out a small sigh. His head was still resting on your lap, and now he was covered by your jacket as well.

"You...you really care about me, don't you?" he said softly, glancing back up at you.

"You came all this way to help me..."

He paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

"Thank you, Blitz..."

"of course König. Always for you, onky for you.." his eyes start to drop, and eory groes within you

"König, please dont.. Stay awisk for me"

"Mhm..." Konig mumbled as he closed his eyes.

He leaned a little forward, his body now resting completely on your lap. He was so close to you that you could feel his warm breath on your skin.

You gently ran your fingers through his hair, brushing it out of his face. His face was still injured, his forehead still had some blood on it, his nose bruised, his cheeks covered with scrapes and cuts.

"come on.. Please"

Konig was drifting in and out of sleep as you spoke to him. His body was exhausted from fighting and from the torture he had endured.

Despite your protests, he continued to doze off. You could feel his body shifting slightly in your lap, as if he were falling asleep.

Konig's breathing became slower and more shallow as he drifted off.

"fuck.." you nudge him, trying to get him to wake up, but no avail.. Soon, footsteps are heard of the others. Once they reach you, everything becomes a blur.. Medic yelling, people pickint him up and bringing him to the vehicle .. Everything was happening to fast.

Gotta admit. I havent done any of stories in more then a year. So eola.

[gardenerian]

is there any gallavich scene that you’ve been thinking about/wanna dive into lately? they’re on my mind :)

hello! tonight we are gonna do a rundown of the 7x11 bank scene baaaabbeeyyy (which also reminded me of my best deep dive - 7x10, baby!) 🥰✨💓🥰✨💓🥰✨💓 let's gooooo!!!!

alright. first of all, how hard did mickey immediately get at this moment right here? it's checking all the mickey boxes:

it's giving ✅ crime kink ✅ competency kink ✅ manhandling so ian can tAKE OVER THE CRIME? ✅ very good very good ✅✅✅

this plus the massive fucking romantic gesture that's about to occur - mickey's pants are not safe right now.

anyways. this scene is peak dumbassery and it's peak devotion. i am obsessed with it. but also. it is PEAK DRAMA. why does he say this??? with that face???????

what is wrong with you???? she says "how's your day so far?" and he says 😳😮‍💨😟 just...... read the note 😳😮‍💨😟 boy WHAT? was the whole point of this not to appear legitimate and Not Suspicious? why would you scare this woman for no reason??? that's mean! is this even how closing accounts works? why would you not say "hello, i'd like to make a withdrawal" like a NORMAL HUMAN? anyways.

brianna takes an appropriately Tired breath after being approached by this baby space alien and his cranky sidekick, and asks ian to swipe his card - and apparently mickey finds this fucking hilarious. he looks like he's in on a joke.... but JOKE IS ON HIM:

also how hysterical is ian's goofy velcro camo wallet aksfjh

poor mickey is DUMBFOUNDED that plan was not, in fact, for ian rob a bank with one (1) strongly-worded, handwritten note:

and it takes ian EXPLAINING that he has a bank account associated with the very real card he is swiping for mickey to understand that there will be no crime today. also - back to the drama. they have that whole conversation about getting money....... why didn't ian ever just say "hey i have some"??? why are these doofuses so hellbent on causing chaos and confusion at all times?????

anyways. i wanna talk about THIS LINE. which i do not think i have freaked out about before.

i think - GODDDDDD. i think many things about this line.

he's been working for a year. he's been solid, steady for a year. some bumps, of course, but he's been doing so well. the gallaghers are notorious for losing their way with Good Things. a year is HUGE. and here is ian, about to take the product of that year and just pour it into this new life for mickey. he's about to walk away from that year. i don't know if i can adequately express what means - to just up and walk away from one of the things that keeps us grounded. huge.

and for that to land with mickey, as it clearly does. you can see it on his face. a realization that ian is doing something big here. that he did something big with their time apart. here is a quantified result of that for mickey to see and have. HUGE.

so brianna is like "????????" and asks ian if he's sure he wants to cash out all the money in his account. and ian. IAN DOES THIS:

before he even looks at mickey, he smiles. his mind is already made up. he's taking out that money. but like. what is he thinking here? i don't think he is quite aware that he's not going to cross the border - but i think the sense of time running out is there. i think the understanding is coming. but he can do this. he's going to do this, and he WANTS to do this!!!!

there is so much on his face here? is ian really gonna do this? are they really standing here together in this BONKERS whirlwind after so much time apart? is ian really in it, just like that? is he really gonna make this massive move for him????? mickey has that line about not having much to leave behind - but i think here it's really reinforced for him that ian has quite a bit to leave behind. family, of course. but this level of security is MASSIVE. so there's fear here in the waiting - but there's also SUCH LOVE. his face is so open. like he's supporting ian here no matter what. it's been that way since the start of this arc! ian has CHOICES. and hE CHOOSES TO TAKE OUT THAT MONEY.

before ian turns back - there's this flash of a smile. just a quick of the dimples. he feels good about this! he feels ready! he's happy to do this for mickey!

AND THEN:

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A MAN LOOK SO CERTAIN IN YOUR LIFE? he may not know what's about to happen just yet, but he knows he wants to give mickey safety. security. something to start this life on, to give him a chance. THIS is the foundation of how ian loves. he wants his people to have something solid, something to care for themselves with. if he can't do it in the day to day, this is how he can leave mickey with something he needs.

in conclusion, this scene has everything. it's funny, and sweet, and silly, and TRAGIC, and beautiful, and i love it.

in additional conclusion, i am going to pass out.

[marchsfreakshow]

Clair De Lune [JPM x Reader]

This is based on a story I have in the works and both inspired by a prompt: Deaf!sailor x Syren (siren) In this, James is a sailor and the reader is a syren. :) Fem! Reader

No one's perspective

~~~~~~~~~

She had spotted the lone sailor as his eyes twinkled in the moonlight.

Clair De Lune... he thought to himself. I wish I could be a part of the moon.

The syren stared and stared while thinking of her song. While she thought, which seemed like forever, she had been following the ship and keeping an eye on the sailor. In her thoughts, she felt like Ariel, spying on a sailor she found incredibly handsome. But while watching from a corner, a realisation hit her mind, bringing her imagination back to reality. I won't be able to have him after! I'll have to eat him! It crushed the syren's heart, and she let herself go, sinking down back to the bottom of the sea.

But the sailor was distracted, in the moonlight only, he did not see the siren looking at him lovingly. Another sailor approached the distracted man, sighing heavily to himself. James was always a distracted sailor, constantly looking at the moon when it was the evening, and zoning out when it was cleaning time. This evening was no different. At first, though, it seemed like James was zoning out as usual, but his face told a different story. There were cringes, sighs, and furrows of his eyebrows. All so many emotions for such a man who couldn't even do his job properly.

That's how the accident was caused.

James was daydreaming as usual, what about, no one knows. It was a windy day at sea, and there had been no boats for miles. Good thing the ship had heavy reinforcements, ready in case something came up in the caverns of the deep blue.

Yet the wind crashed and hurled coral, rocks, and grainy sand at the unmissable ship. James was taken in a big gush of ocean water, being hit in the eye of the storm with the rocks. Cuts, gashes and grazes all over the man's body. His clothes were now practically rags, torn. Buttons came off, buckles lost, and the small velvet he owned, was now gone forever. Lost at sea, James swam and swam, not wanting to lose his crew.

His crew? Dismissive of the captain's right-hand man, and let only the captain play James' song. They called him a yellow-belly, and a girl if he was not able to quickly find his ship in the nick of time. Simply, they let him die in their minds. How odd it was though, when they were ashore for goods, James found them. He seemed to do so while walking onto the glowing, hot sand. Almost naked, however. The rags that stuck themselves to James' body were now stained a deep red. His legs, arms, torso, everywhere. There was a scratch here, a gash there, a salty wound around about here. He was red all over, and his usual skin colour disappeared.

Screams emerged from watchers. Two did not scream. The captain, and the hiding syren. The dear Syren looking at the interactions from afar was intrigued by the man and how red he was. But she simply could not just swim up to him and look after him. Guns would be fired her way, and her life would be taken by the hateful sailors. The screams were for James. He looked odd, and like he did not belong on land. People started to run away, they did not want to witness a crazy person die. His crew watched on, shocked that the daydreaming man found his way to land. "James?" The captain asked as he slowly walked towards James. He snapped his head over. "James is that you?" No response, he was unaware of what the captain had said to him.

A snap brought James back to reality.

A fine and clean reality of the ship at sea. "Guys! We got a Syren!" A member of the crew shouted as he brought a syren onto the sea. Her eyes were dull, and lifeless, her mouth sewn shut. Presumably by the member of the crew who brought her wriggling body on board. The chatter and mutters were hoarded around the creature. Everyone was intrigued, James too. He looked at her. "What should we do with it?"

Ideas were spurted out.

"Kill her."

"Let her drown"

"she can breath underwater dumbass."

"tape her gills shut!"

"torture her and then throw her out."

"I want her."

That last comment stuck out to everyone, and they turned around to see James looking quiet, and more meek than he usually was. "I want to name her, and take care of her."

"..." His captain gave him a look of disappointment as the crew threw the Syren back out to the sea. "want to join it? In the cold, vast, sea? Reliving every single memory you had when the horrible, dark water, almost killed you?"

"Yes."

Everyone stared daggers into James. Some of them walked into the shared room downstairs and grabbed his things. James didn't have much. Clothes, knives, shillings. The knives and shillings were rusty, he hadn't used them for ages. The two small bags were tatty, and they were thrown James' way. He picked them up with hesitation, walking backwards. He felt he had made a mistake, but the Syren was too pretty to say no to. He didn't care if the Syren ate him anymore.

"pick him up, and throw him the way you threw the syren."

So they did.

He held onto his bags tight and swam up once he hit the water, his now ex-crew members, leering at him. They turned away once James felt a tap on his shoulder. It was the Syren. She looked sad, innocent and gentle. But she quickly pointed her mouth, so James nodded and swam towards a rock he could sit on. The Syren followed, hoping someone would be nice to her. James took out his tatty and rusty knife, bringing it to the Syren's lips. She was scared, shaking, and looked up at James, worried. "Shh, shh. It's okay." He gently held the Syrens chin, slicing the thin thread that was keeping her mouth shut. Both of them let out a breath, knowing she was okay. "Are you okay?" James asked, not even knowing if she could speak English or not. But in the meantime, he took out the threads, blood peeking out of the holes.

The Syren nodded. "Y/N."

"Y/N? That's pretty." James was slightly aghast that a Syren would just say her name like that. Even then, he would have expected an ancient Greek name, one that the mythology would use for the sea creatures. (Sorry if your name is actually Greek or something-)

"Clair De Lune..." She breathed, taking in deep breaths and moving herself around onto the rock.

"...you know that song?"

"It's my song. I heard you humming it a while ago." Y/N smiled at the man, entranced by his eyes, his unkempt hair and his moustache. She had never seen a man like him before. It excited the dear Syren. "It's what I sing to bring people in for my sisters."

James gave a smile back, but stopped immediately, thinking to himself. "Will you use it on me?" The thought worried him, he didn't want to die right after being thrown off. But Y/N shook her head, leaning her hands on James' legs. "I don't have anywhere to go though."

Y/N leaned on James, looking up at him. "I want to keep you, please. I won't kill you, or hurt you. I want to sing for you." The sun was rising behind the rock, so there were shines of light facing their way. It made the sun orange and pink, a beautiful array of colours that captivated both Y/N and James. They watched the sky turn from pink to blue, the stars slowly fading from their vision.